Studying translational control in Drosophila cell-free systems

Classically, Drosophila cell-free translation systems have been used to study the response of the translational machinery to heat shock treatment. We and others have developed optimized Drosophila embryo and ovary extracts, and their use has expanded to the study of a variety of translational control events. These extracts recapitulate many of the aspects of mRNA translation observed in vivo and retain critical regulatory features of several translational control processes. Indeed, their use is rapidly improving our knowledge of molecular mechanisms of translational control. In this chapter we provide general guidelines and detailed protocols to obtain and use translation extracts derived from Drosophila embryos and ovaries.