Nodal signalling is involved in left-right asymmetry in snails.

ABSTRACT: Many animals display specific internal or external features with left-right asymmetry. In vertebrates, the molecular pathway that leads to this asymmetry uses the signalling molecule Nodal, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily, which is expressed in the left lateral plate mesoderm, and loss of nodal function produces a randomization of the left-right asymmetry of visceral organs. Orthologues of nodal have also been described in other deuterostomes, including ascidians and sea urchins, but no nodal orthologue has been reported in the other two main clades of Bilateria: Ecdysozoa (including flies and nematodes) and Lophotrochozoa (including snails and annelids). Here we report the first evidence for a nodal orthologue in a non-deuterostome group. We isolated nodal and

SUBMITTER: Grande C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2661027 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature