Ran and Rac in mouse eggs: cortical polarity and spindle positioning.
Polar body formation in eggs proceeds through two extreme asymmetric divisions, requiring precise coordination between spindle position and the polarized acto-myosin cortex. Two new studies appearing in this issue of Developmental Cell implicate the small GTPases Ran and Rac in cortical polarity of the mouse egg.
Cowan
Carrie
C
Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna A-1030, Austria. cowan@imp.univie.ac.at
D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D016764:Cell Polarity; D051379:Mice; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism*; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020931:ran GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins; D020931:ran GTP-Binding Protein