Figure 4.

Depletion of LICs leads to multipolar spindles in Xenopus embryos. (A) Confocal images of spindles in embryos injected with control (Ctrl MO) or LIC 1 and 2 MOs (LIC1&2 MO) labeled with anti–α-tubulin and DAPI. Bars, 10 µm. (B) Quantification of spindle morphology in Xenopus embryos after depletion of LIC1, LIC2, or both LICs. Spindles categories: two poles = bipolar; three to four poles = minor multipolar; more than four poles = major multipolar. (n = 4 independent experiments, ≥27 embryos scored in total, 240–400 spindles categorized for each condition, means ± SEM). (C) Embryos injected with control or LIC1 and 2 MOs were rescued with a GFP plasmid or a mixture of plasmids encoding LICs 1 and 2 and scored as in B (a total of 98–159 mitotic cells from 13–18 embryos scored per condition, means ± SEM). Two-way ANOVA analysis versus controls: **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; ****, P < 0.0001. For other comparisons, see Results. C, control.