Spatiotemporal Subcellular Manipulation of the Microtubule Cytoskeleton in the Living Preimplantation Mouse Embryo using Photostatins

Typical microtubule inhibitors, used widely in basic and applied research, have far-reaching effects on cells. Recently, photostatins emerged as a class of photoswitchable microtubule inhibitors, capable of instantaneous, reversible, spatiotemporally precise manipulation of microtubules. This step-by-step protocol details the application of photostatins in a 3D live preimplantation mouse embryo.