title: Using micromanipulation to analyze control of vertebrate meiotic spindle size.
abstract: The polymerization/depolymerization dynamics of microtubules (MTs) have been reported to contribute to control of the size and shape of spindles, but quantitative analysis of how the size and shape correlate with the amount and density of MTs in the spindle remains incomplete. Here, we measured these parameters using 3D microscopy of meiotic spindles that self-organized in Xenopus egg extracts and presented a simple equation describing the relationship among these parameters. To examine the validity of the equation, we cut the spindle into two fragments along the pole-to-pole axis by micromanipulation techniques that rapidly decrease the amount of MTs. The spheroidal shape spontaneously recovered within 5 min, but the size of each fragment remained small. The equation we obtained quantitatively describes how the spindle size correlates with the amount of MTs while maintaining the shape and the MT density.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itabashi
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Tarun M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimamoto
authors.forename: Shin'ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishiwata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002457:Cell Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000379:methods; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D010063:Ovum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D002457:Cell Extracts