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Micropipette Aspiration of Oocytes to Assess Cortical Tension

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Mouse Oocyte Development

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1818))

Abstract

Just as it is important to understand the cell biology of signaling pathways, it is valuable also to understand mechanical forces in cells. The field of mechanobiology has a rich history, including study of cellular mechanics during mitosis and meiosis in echinoderm oocytes and zygotes dating back to the 1930s. This chapter addresses the use of micropipette aspiration (MPA) to assess cellular mechanics, specifically cortical tension, in mammalian oocytes.

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Acknowledgments

Our work on cortical tension in oocytes has been supported by Grant #HD074773 from the NIH, with related work in the Robinson lab supported by Grant #GM066817 and in the Evans lab by Grant # HD090624. We are especially grateful to Dr. Stephanie Larson and Dr. Hyo Lee, who led the way in the development of this methodology of use with oocytes, with assistance from Dr. Yee-Seir Kee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Janice P. Evans

  2. Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Douglas N. Robinson

  3. Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Douglas N. Robinson

Authors
  1. Janice P. Evans
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  2. Douglas N. Robinson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janice P. Evans .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CIRB, Collège de France, UMR7241, INSERM-U1050, Paris, France

    Marie-Hélène Verlhac

  2. CIRB, Collège de France, UMR7241, INSERM-U1050, Paris, France

    Marie-Emilie Terret

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Evans, J.P., Robinson, D.N. (2018). Micropipette Aspiration of Oocytes to Assess Cortical Tension. In: Verlhac, MH., Terret, ME. (eds) Mouse Oocyte Development. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1818. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8603-3_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8603-3_17

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8602-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8603-3

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