Abstract
Screens for small-molecule modulators of biological pathways typically utilize cultured cell lines, purified proteins, or, recently, model organisms (e.g., zebrafish, Drosophila, C. elegans). Herein, we describe a method for using Xenopus laevis egg extract, a biologically active and highly tractable cell-free system that recapitulates a legion of complex chemical reactions found in intact cells. Specifically, we focus on the use of a luciferase-based fusion system to identify small-molecule modulators that affect protein turnover.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Hang BI et al (2012) Screening for small molecule inhibitors of embryonic pathways: sometimes you gotta crack a few eggs. Bioorg Med Chem 20:1869–1877
Thorne CA et al (2010) Small-molecule inhibition of Wnt signaling through activation of casein kinase 1alpha. Nat Chem Biol 6:829–836
Thorne CA et al (2011) A biochemical screen for identification of small-molecule regulators of the Wnt pathway using Xenopus egg extracts. J Biomol Screen 16:995–1006
Ma L et al (1998) Corequirement of specific phosphoinositides and small GTP-binding protein Cdc42 in inducing actin assembly in Xenopus egg extracts. J Cell Biol 140:1125–1136
Salic A, Lee E, Mayer L, Kirschner MW (2000) Control of beta-catenin stability: reconstitution of the cytoplasmic steps of the Wnt pathway in Xenopus egg extracts. Mol Cell 5:523–532
Murray AW (1991) Cell cycle extracts. Methods Cell Biol 36:581–605
Glotzer M, Murray AW, Kirschner MW (1991) Cyclin is degraded by the ubiquitin pathway. Nature 349:132–138
Tutter AV, Walter JC (2006) Chromosomal DNA replication in a soluble cell-free system derived from Xenopus eggs. Methods Mol Biol 322:121–137
Theriot JA et al (1994) Involvement of profilin in the actin-based motility of L. monocytogenes in cells and in cell-free extracts. Cell 76:505–517
Maresca TJ, Heald R (2006) Methods for studying spindle assembly and chromosome condensation in Xenopus egg extracts. Methods Mol Biol 322:459–474
Shennan KI (2006) Xenopus egg extracts: a model system to study proprotein convertases. Methods Mol Biol 322:199–212
Kornbluth S, Yang J, Powers M (2006) Analysis of the cell cycle using Xenopus egg extracts. Curr Protoc Cell Biol. Chapter 11:Unit 11.11
Chan RC, Forbes DI (2006) In vitro study of nuclear assembly and nuclear import using Xenopus egg extracts. Methods Mol Biol 322:289–300
Dabauvalle MC et al (1991) Spontaneous assembly of pore complex-containing membranes (“annulate lamellae”) in Xenopus egg extract in the absence of chromatin. J Cell Biol 112:1073–1082
Dabauvalle MC, Scheer U (1991) Assembly of nuclear pore complexes in Xenopus egg extract. Biol Cell 72:25–29
Masui Y, Markert CL (1971) Cytoplasmic control of nuclear behavior during meiotic maturation of frog oocytes. J Exp Zool 177:129–145
Forbes DJ, Kirschner MW, Newport JW (1983) Spontaneous formation of nucleus-like structures around bacteriophage DNA microinjected into Xenopus eggs. Cell 34:13–23
Lohka MJ, Masui Y (1983) Formation in vitro of sperm pronuclei and mitotic chromosomes induced by amphibian ooplasmic components. Science 220:719–721
Newport JW, Kirschner MW (1984) Regulation of the cell cycle during early Xenopus development. Cell 37:731–742
Mitchison T, Kirschner M (1984) Dynamic instability of microtubule growth. Nature 312:237–242
Blow JJ, Laskey RA (1986) Initiation of DNA replication in nuclei and purified DNA by a cell-free extract of Xenopus eggs. Cell 47:577–587
Verma R et al (2004) Ubistatins inhibit proteasome-dependent degradation by binding the ubiquitin chain. Science 306:117–120
Yu H et al (1996) Identification of a novel ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme involved in mitotic cyclin degradation. Curr Biol 6:455–466
Murray AW, Solomon MJ, Kirschner MW (1989) The role of cyclin synthesis and degradation in the control of maturation promoting factor activity. Nature 339:280–286
Murray AW, Kirschner MW (1989) Cyclin synthesis drives the early embryonic cell cycle. Nature 339:275–280
Lohka MJ, Hayes MK, Maller JL (1988) Purification of maturation-promoting factor, an intracellular regulator of early mitotic events. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 85:3009–3013
Pomerening JR, Kim SY, Ferrell JE Jr (2005) Systems-level dissection of the cell-cycle oscillator: bypassing positive feedback produces damped oscillations. Cell 122:565–578
Lohka MJ, Masui Y (1984) Roles of cytosol and cytoplasmic particles in nuclear envelope assembly and sperm pronuclear formation in cell-free preparations from amphibian eggs. J Cell Biol 98:1222–1230
Finlay DR et al (1987) Inhibition of in vitro nuclear transport by a lectin that binds to nuclear pores. J Cell Biol 104:189–200
Newmeyer DD, Finlay DR, Forbes DJ (1986) In vitro transport of a fluorescent nuclear protein and exclusion of non-nuclear proteins. J Cell Biol 103:2091–2102
Newport J, Spann T (1987) Disassembly of the nucleus in mitotic extracts: membrane vesicularization, lamin disassembly, and chromosome condensation are independent processes. Cell 48:219–230
Newport J (1987) Nuclear reconstitution in vitro: stages of assembly around protein-free DNA. Cell 48:205–217
Cross MK, Powers M (2008) Obtaining eggs from Xenopus laevis females. J Vis Exp 18:e890
Cross MK, Powers M (2008) Preparation and fractionation of Xenopus laevis egg extracts. J Vis Exp 18:e891
Willis J et al (2012) Study of the DNA damage checkpoint using Xenopus egg extracts. J Vis Exp 69:e4449
Walter J, Sun L, Newport J (1998) Regulated chromosomal DNA replication in the absence of a nucleus. Mol Cell 1:519–529
Saito-Diaz K et al (2013) The way Wnt works: components and mechanism. Growth Factors 31:1–31
Lee E et al (2003) The roles of APC and Axin derived from experimental and theoretical analysis of the Wnt pathway. PLoS Biol 1:E10
Lee E, Salic A, Kirschner MW (2001) Physiological regulation of [beta]-catenin stability by Tcf3 and CK1epsilon. J Cell Biol 154:983–993
Seeling JM et al (1999) Regulation of beta-catenin signaling by the B56 subunit of protein phosphatase 2A. Science 283:2089–2091
Guger KA, Gumbiner BM (1995) Beta-Catenin has Wnt-like activity and mimics the Nieuwkoop signaling center in Xenopus dorsal-ventral patterning. Dev Biol 172:115–125
Cselenyi CS et al (2008) LRP6 transduces a canonical Wnt signal independently of Axin degradation by inhibiting GSK3’s phosphorylation of beta-catenin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:8032–8037
Jernigan KK et al (2010) Gbetagamma activates GSK3 to promote LRP6-mediated beta-catenin transcriptional activity. Sci Signal 3:ra37
Major MB et al (2007) Wilms tumor suppressor WTX negatively regulates WNT/beta-catenin signaling. Science 316:1043–1046
Zhang JH, Chung TD, Oldenburg KR (1999) A simple statistical parameter for use in evaluation and validation of high throughput screening assays. J Biomol Screen 4:67–73
Baldwin TO (1996) Firefly luciferase: the structure is known, but the mystery remains. Structure 4:223–228
Sive HL, Grainger RM, Harland RM (2000) Early development of Xenopus laevis: a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Acknowledgments
We thank Laurie Lee for critical reading of the manuscript. M.R.B. is supported by a National Cancer Institute training grant (T32 CA119925). E.L. is supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01GM081635 and R01GM103926). R.Y. is supported by Award Number 8UL1TR000149 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the CTRC P30 Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute (CA054174). S.R.H. is supported by the National Cancer Institute (P50 CA095103).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Broadus, M.R., Yew, P.R., Hann, S.R., Lee, E. (2015). Small-Molecule High-Throughput Screening Utilizing Xenopus Egg Extract. In: Hempel, J., Williams, C., Hong, C. (eds) Chemical Biology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1263. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2269-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2269-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2268-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2269-7
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols