File:Detached-cell method of transplanting nuclei.jpg

Detached-cell Method of Transplanting Muclei

This figure from a classic J Embryol Exp Morphol. (now Development) paper shows the technique for transplanting a single nuclei from monolayers of cultured cells to unfertilized eggs of Xenopus laevis.

One of the authors, John Gurdon, was awarded the 2012 Nobel prize in Medicine for studies that involved this technique of nuclei transplantation.

Legend

• A - A single donor cell is sucked into a micropipette.
• B - The air bubble marker moves sufficiently far up the pipette shaft to serve as a guide when the pipette tip and donor cell have been immersed in the recipient egg.
• C, D - The edges of a well-spread cell are cut with a fine glass needle.
• E, F - The cytoplasm spreads evenly round the nucleus, and sticks to the glass needle.
• G, H - The cell (with an incomplete cell membrane) is sucked from the needle into a wide-bore micropipette, and is then injected into a recipient egg in the usual way.

Reference

<pubmed>4923666</pubmed>| Development | PDF

http://dev.biologists.org/site/misc/rights_permissions.xhtml

Fig. 1 original PDF image cropped, resized and labelled with reference.

for educational use only