QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online November 21, 2008

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A balancing act in the inner ear

The generation of complex three-dimensional structures is one of the most remarkable feats of embryonic development, but in many cases little is known about how such structures are achieved. Now, Lisa Goodrich and colleagues report that the formation of the mouse inner ear, which houses the sensory organs for hearing and balance, requires a previously unrecognised feedback loop between the morphogen netrin 1 (Ntn1) and the immunoglobulin superfamily protein Lrig3 (see p. 4091). During a mutagenesis screen, the authors found that the lateral canal (a component of the inner ear) of Lrig3 mutant mice is truncated. This, they report, is due to the accelerated fusion of the opposing walls of a precursor structure known as the lateral pouch, which is caused by ectopically expressed Ntn1 triggering basement membrane breakdown. The authors demonstrate further that cross-repressive interactions between Lrig3 and Ntn1 define the fusing and non-fusing domains of the lateral pouch during lateral canal morphogenesis, and propose that this interaction constitutes a novel mechanism for Ntn1 regulation.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in Development:

Cross-repressive interactions between Lrig3 and netrin 1 shape the architecture of the inner ear

Victoria E. Abraira, Tony del Rio, Andrew F. Tucker, John Slonimsky, Hannah L. Keirnes, and Lisa V. Goodrich
Development 2008 135: 4091-4099. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?