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Updated: Mar 13, 2026
Xenopus laevis Egg Extract Preparation and Live Imaging Methods for Visualizing Dynamic Cytoplasmic Organization
Published on: June 6, 2021
Aurora-A: an expedition to the pole of the spindle in Xenopus egg extracts
Jacek Z Kubiak1, Claude Prigent
1CNRS, Unité Mixte de Recherche UMR6290, Rennes, France.
Abstract:
The aim of this short review is to describe the contribution of Xenopus laevis egg extracts to the discovery and understanding of the regulation and function of the serine/threonine kinase Aurora-A. The power of these extracts to recapitulate cell cycle events makes them a precious tool to decipher complex biological processes at the molecular level, including the mechanisms that affect Aurora-A (post-translational modifications) and mechanisms in which Aurora-A plays a crucial role (bipolar spindle assembly). We focus on the results obtained in cell-free extracts, but we also give an updated overview of Aurora A functions found in other systems.
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