First published online March 4, 2005
Development 132, 601e (2005)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Go with the flow
Many internal organs in vertebrates have conserved left-right (LR)
orientations that are established by asymmetric gene expression during early
development. The nodal flow model proposes that this `lopsided' gene
expression is initiated in mice by cilia on cells producing a flow of
extracellular fluid in the late gastrula node. Now, Joseph Yost's group report
that a similar mechanism initiates LR asymmetry in zebrafish (see
p. 1247). Using
videomicroscopy, the researchers show that cilia on the dorsal forerunner
cells, which form a ciliated epithelium inside the fluid-filled Kupffer's
vesicle, are motile and create a fluid flow just before asymmetric gene
expression starts in the embryo. Other results provide the first direct
evidence that impairing cilia function in derivatives of the dorsal organizer
affects LR development and identify genes upstream of cilia function.
Kupffer's vesicle, the researchers conclude, is a transient embryonic organ of
asymmetry in teleosts.
Related articles in Development:
- Kupffer's vesicle is a ciliated organ of asymmetry in the zebrafish embryo that initiates left-right development of the brain, heart and gut
- Jeffrey J. Essner, Jeffrey D. Amack, Molly K. Nyholm, Erin B. Harris, and H. Joseph Yost
Development 2005 132: 1247-1260.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
