Production of Xenopus tropicalis egg extracts to identify microtubule-associated RNAs

J Vis Exp. 2013 Jun 27:(76):50434. doi: 10.3791/50434.

Abstract

Many organisms localize mRNAs to specific subcellular destinations to spatially and temporally control gene expression. Recent studies have demonstrated that the majority of the transcriptome is localized to a nonrandom position in cells and embryos. One approach to identify localized mRNAs is to biochemically purify a cellular structure of interest and to identify all associated transcripts. Using recently developed high-throughput sequencing technologies it is now straightforward to identify all RNAs associated with a subcellular structure. To facilitate transcript identification it is necessary to work with an organism with a fully sequenced genome. One attractive system for the biochemical purification of subcellular structures are egg extracts produced from the frog Xenopus laevis. However, X. laevis currently does not have a fully sequenced genome, which hampers transcript identification. In this article we describe a method to produce egg extracts from a related frog, X. tropicalis, that has a fully sequenced genome. We provide details for microtubule polymerization, purification and transcript isolation. While this article describes a specific method for identification of microtubule-associated transcripts, we believe that it will be easily applied to other subcellular structures and will provide a powerful method for identification of localized RNAs.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Extracts / chemistry*
  • Female
  • Microtubules / chemistry*
  • Microtubules / metabolism
  • Ovum / chemistry*
  • Ovum / metabolism
  • RNA, Messenger / chemistry
  • RNA, Messenger / isolation & purification*
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Xenopus

Substances

  • Cell Extracts
  • RNA, Messenger