Protocol for separation of the nuclear and the cytoplasmic fractions of Xenopus laevis embryonic cells for studying protein shuttling.

This protocol for the separation of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions of cells of embryos was developed to study changes in the intracellular localization of the Zyxin and Ybx1 proteins, which are capable of changing localization in response to certain stimuli. Western blot analysis allows the quantification of changes in the distribution of these proteins between the cytoplasm and nucleus, whereas the posttranslational modifications specific to each compartment can be identified by changes in electrophoretic mobility. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Parshina et al. (2020).