Trifluoperazine-induced meiotic maturation in Xenopus laevis

Xenopus oocytes were exposed to trifluoperazine, a drug that binds to the calcium-regulating protein, calmodulin. The drug induced meiotic maturation even in the absence of progesterone. When trifluoperazine was microinjected directly into oocytes the maturation of the cells was partially inhibited in that the white spot, indicative of germinal vesicle breakdown, did not appear even though the germinal itself was absent in dissected oocytes.