Fig. 1

Distribution of motile cilia becomes asymmetric along the anterior–posterior (AP) axis during Kupffer′s vesicle development. (A–D) Immunostaining of cilia in Kupffer′s vesicle (KV) with acetylated Tubulin antibodies at different somite stages (SS). (A′–D′) Red circle approximates the KV lumen boundary. The dashed yellow line bisects KV into anterior and posterior regions. All images are oriented with anterior at the top and posterior at the bottom. KV cilia were equally distributed between the anterior and posterior regions at 2 SS (A, A′) and 4 SS (B, B′). In contrast, However at 6 SS (C, C′) and 8 SS (D, D′), cilia were asymmetrically distributed. The average cilia distribution is presented ± one standard deviation (in green). Scale bar=10 μm. (E) The percentage of cilia in anterior and posterior regions of KV at different stages of development. Error bars=one standard deviation. n=number of embryos analyzed. *Significant difference between anterior and posterior (p<0.0001).