title: Electron microscopy of microtubule cytoskeleton assembly in vitro.
abstract: Cell-free cytoplasm isolated from meiotic Xenopus egg extracts reconstitutes microtubule phenomena in vitro. These crude extracts assemble bipolar meiotic spindles and are readily fractionated for biochemical assays, providing a good tool to dissect molecular mechanism. We developed techniques for immunoelectron microscopy of microtubule structures assembled in perfusion chambers and in solution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coughlin
authors.forename: Aaron C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Groen
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Mitchison
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016591:Histocytological Preparation Techniques; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010063:Ovum; D014981:Xenopus