Preparation of a highly active cell-free translation system from immature Xenopus laevis oocytes

Understanding mechanisms of post-transcriptional control of gene expression has come under much scrutiny in recent years. A key question in this field is how the translation of specific mRNAs is activated or repressed both spatially and temporally in a given cell. In oocytes of the frog Xenopus laevis a number of mRNAs are localized early in oogenesis and subsequently translated at later stages. We have developed a highly active cell-free translation system from oocytes in the early stages of oogenesis that is applicable to the study of translation and translational control of both endogenous and exogenous mRNAs.