?-spectrin has a stage-specific asymmetrical localization duringXenopus oogenesis

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Abstract
Xenopus oocyte organization largely depends upon the cytoskeleton distribution, which is dynamically regulated during oogenesis. An actin‐based cytoskeleton is present in the cortex starting from stage 1. At stages 4–6, a complex and polarized cytoskeleton network forms in the cytoplasm. In this paper, we studied the distribution of spectrin, a molecule that has binding sites for several cytoskeletal proteins and is responsible for the determination of regionalized membrane territories. The localization of α‐spectrin mRNA was analyzed during Xenopus oogenesis by in situ hybridization on both whole mount and sections, utilizing a cDNA probe encoding a portion of Xenopus α‐spectrin. Furthermore, an antibody against mammalian α‐spectrin was used to localize the protein. Our results showed a stage‐dependent mRNA localization and suggested that spectrin may participate in the formation of specific domains in oocytes at stages 1 and 2 and 4–6. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 55:229–239, 2000.