PUBLICATION
Coupling cellular oscillators: A mechanism that maintains synchrony against developmental noise in the segmentation clock
- Authors
- Ishimatsu, K., Horikawa, K., and Takeda, H.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-070424-5
- Date
- 2007
- Source
- Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists 236(6): 1416-1421 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Takeda, Hiroyuki
- Keywords
- coupled oscillator, segmentation clock, zebrafish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Biological Clocks/physiology*
- Body Patterning/physiology*
- Cell Proliferation
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Mesoderm/enzymology
- Mesoderm/metabolism
- PubMed
- 17420984 Full text @ Dev. Dyn.
Citation
Ishimatsu, K., Horikawa, K., and Takeda, H. (2007) Coupling cellular oscillators: A mechanism that maintains synchrony against developmental noise in the segmentation clock. Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists. 236(6):1416-1421.
Abstract
A unique feature of vertebrate segmentation is its strict periodicity, which is governed by the segmentation clock consisting of numerous cellular oscillators. These cellular oscillators, driven by a negative-feedback loop of Hairy transcription factor, are linked through Notch-dependent intercellular coupling and display the synchronous expression of clock genes. Combining our transplantation experiments in zebrafish with mathematical simulations, we review how the cellular oscillators maintain synchrony and form a robust system that is resistant to the effects of developmental noise such as stochastic gene expression and active cell proliferation. The accumulated evidence indicates that the segmentation clock behaves as a "coupled oscillators," a mechanism that also underlies the synchronous flashing seen in fireflies.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping