PUBLICATION
Noise-resistant and synchronized oscillation of the segmentation clock
- Authors
- Horikawa, K., Ishimatsu, K., Yoshimoto, E., Kondo, S., and Takeda, H.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-060616-41
- Date
- 2006
- Source
- Nature 441(7094): 719-723 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Kondo, Shigeru, Takeda, Hiroyuki
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- Mitosis
- Models, Biological
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/metabolism
- Receptors, Notch/metabolism
- Biological Clocks/physiology*
- Somites/cytology
- Somites/metabolism
- Body Patterning/physiology*
- Zebrafish/embryology*
- Zebrafish/genetics
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
- Signal Transduction
- Membrane Proteins/metabolism
- Animals
- PubMed
- 16760970 Full text @ Nature
Citation
Horikawa, K., Ishimatsu, K., Yoshimoto, E., Kondo, S., and Takeda, H. (2006) Noise-resistant and synchronized oscillation of the segmentation clock. Nature. 441(7094):719-723.
Abstract
Periodic somite segmentation in vertebrate embryos is controlled by the 'segmentation clock', which consists of numerous cellular oscillators. Although the properties of a single oscillator, driven by a hairy negative-feedback loop, have been investigated, the system-level properties of the segmentation clock remain largely unknown. To explore these characteristics, we have examined the response of a normally oscillating clock in zebrafish to experimental stimuli using in vivo mosaic experiments and mathematical simulation. We demonstrate that the segmentation clock behaves as a coupled oscillator, by showing that Notch-dependent intercellular communication, the activity of which is regulated by the internal hairy oscillator, couples neighbouring cells to facilitate synchronized oscillation. Furthermore, the oscillation phase of individual oscillators fluctuates due to developmental noise such as stochastic gene expression and active cell proliferation. The intercellular coupling was found to have a crucial role in minimizing the effects of this noise to maintain coherent oscillation.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping