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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Meiotic Spindle Assessment in Mouse Oocytes by siRNA-mediated Silencing
Published on: October 11, 2015
Nuclear and spindle positioning during oocyte meiosis
Amy S Fabritius1, Marina L Ellefson, Francis J McNally
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
None:
Female meiosis is unique in that an asymmetrically positioned meiotic spindle expels chromosomes into tiny, non-developing polar bodies. The extrusion of chromosomes into polar bodies is always mediated by meiotic spindles that are attached to the oocyte cortex by one pole. The asymmetric, cortical positioning of the oocyte meiotic spindle preserves the volume and contents of the oocyte. Recent work in C. elegans and mouse has provided mechanistic details of spindle positioning in oocytes.
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