Cell cycle and developmental control of cortical excitability in Xenopus laevis

Interest in cortical excitability—the ability of the cell cortex to generate traveling waves of protein activity—has grown considerably over the past 20 years. Attributing biological functions to cortical excitability requires an understanding of the natural behavior of excitable waves and the ability to accurately quantify wave properties. Here we have investigated and quantified the onset of cortical excitability in Xenopus laevis eggs and embryos and the changes in cortical excitability throughout early development. We found that cortical excitability begins to manifest shortly after egg activation. Further, we identified a close relationship between wave properties—such as wave frequency and amplitude—and cell cycle progression as well as cell size. Finally, we identified quantitative differences between cortical excitability in the cleavage furrow relative to nonfurrow cortical excitability and showed that these wave regimes are mutually exclusive.