Synthesis of a 180 kDa protein is a molecular marker of Xenopus oocyte meiotic maturation.
Xenopus oocyte maturation can be induced in vitro by a number of agents including hormones, proto-oncogenes and cyclins. Xenopus oocytes matured by a variety of treatments, including progesterone, insulin, testosterone and injection of Xenopus c-mos RNA, Xenopus cyclin B2 RNA and egg extracts, synthesize a predominant 180 kDa protein (p180). p180 synthesis begins during maturation prior to germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) but is prominent only in oocytes that have undergone GVBD. p180 synthesis is thus a useful, reliable molecular marker of oocyte maturation. p180 continues to be synthesized in eggs and embryos up to the gastrula stage of embryogenesis, but not in the neurula or tailbud embryo.
Ernst Boehringer Institute, Vienna, Austria.
R C
RC
Smith
D000818:Animals; D016213:Cyclins / Q000235:genetics; D007328:Insulin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008540:Meiosis; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology; D014982:Xenopus laevis
D016213:Cyclins; D007328:Insulin; D013739:Testosterone; D011374:Progesterone; D012313:RNA; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate