Fig. 5. Association of endogenous Xlsirts and VegT RNAs with cytokeratin network in the oocyte cortex. (A) Texas Red-labeled molecular beacons (red) that hybridize to VegT, Xlsirts and Xpat RNAs were used to detect the association of endogenous RNAs with the cytokeratin network that was detected with FITC-conjugated antibody (green). Xlsirts RNA (1, 2) and VegT mRNA (3, 4) particles were intimately associated with the cytokeratin filaments (arrows). VegT mRNA particles were often visible uniformly spaced along the cytokeratin filament (4, arrows). Xpat mRNA was not associated with the cytokeratin (5). Scale bars: 2 µm in 1, 3 and 5; 1.2 µm in 2 and 4. (B) Student's t-test statistical analysis of the number of endogenous RNA aggregates associated with cytokeratin filaments. Graph shows that the difference in the number of RNA aggregates in VegT and Xlsirts samples versus Xpat samples is statistically highly significant (P=0.002). Each bar represents the average (with the standard deviation) number of RNA aggregates counted in eight independent samples along the 2 µm length of cytokeratin filament in each experimental group.