PUBLICATION

Cilia in vertebrate left-right patterning

Authors
Dasgupta, A., Amack, J.D.
ID
ZDB-PUB-161110-21
Date
2016
Source
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences   371(1710): (Review)
Registered Authors
Amack, Jeffrey, Dasgupta, Agnik
Keywords
birth defects, fluid flow dynamics, left–right asymmetry, mechanosensory cilia, motile cilia
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Body Patterning*
  • Cilia/physiology
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Nodal Protein/genetics*
  • Nodal Protein/metabolism
  • Signal Transduction
  • Vertebrates/embryology*
  • Vertebrates/genetics
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
PubMed
27821522 Full text @ Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., Series B
Abstract
Understanding how left-right (LR) asymmetry is generated in vertebrate embryos is an important problem in developmental biology. In humans, a failure to align the left and right sides of cardiovascular and/or gastrointestinal systems often results in birth defects. Evidence from patients and animal models has implicated cilia in the process of left-right patterning. Here, we review the proposed functions for cilia in establishing LR asymmetry, which include creating transient leftward fluid flows in an embryonic 'left-right organizer'. These flows direct asymmetric activation of a conserved Nodal (TGFβ) signalling pathway that guides asymmetric morphogenesis of developing organs. We discuss the leading hypotheses for how cilia-generated asymmetric fluid flows are translated into asymmetric molecular signals. We also discuss emerging mechanisms that control the subcellular positioning of cilia and the cellular architecture of the left-right organizer, both of which are critical for effective cilia function during left-right patterning. Finally, using mosaic cell-labelling and time-lapse imaging in the zebrafish embryo, we provide new evidence that precursor cells maintain their relative positions as they give rise to the ciliated left-right organizer. This suggests the possibility that these cells acquire left-right positional information prior to the appearance of cilia.This article is part of the themed issue 'Provocative questions in left-right asymmetry'.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping