Cytoplasts

Cytoplast refers to a cell from which the nucleus has been removed, leaving the cytoplasm and organelles enclosed by the plasma membrane. Enucleation, the process used to produce cytoplasts, can be performed mechanically or with chemical agents that disrupt the cytoskeleton, enabling the nucleus to be separated from the cytoplasm. The term is most often applied to animal cells; in plants the analogous term protoplast is more common.

Cytoplasts are used in research on nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions and mitochondrial inheritance. When a nucleus from a donor cell is introduced into an enucleated cytoplast, the result is a cytoplasmic hybrid, or cybrid, a system used to study mitochondrial DNA, energy metabolism, and disease mechanisms. Cytoplasts have also been employed in somatic cell nuclear transfer experiments and other cloning-related techniques; however, practical application remains primarily within basic research.

In plant biology, the use of the term cytoplast is limited, and protoplasts (cells lacking cell walls) are the more established concept for cell wall–free plant cells.