From cytoskeletal dynamics to organ asymmetry: a nonlinear, regulative pathway underlies left-right patterning.

ABSTRACT: Consistent left-right (LR) asymmetry is a fundamental aspect of the bodyplan across phyla, and errors of laterality form an important class of human birth defects. Its molecular underpinning was first discovered as a sequential pathway of left- and right-sided gene expression that controlled positioning of the heart and visceral organs. Recent data have revised this picture in two important ways. First, the physical origin of chirality has been identified; cytoskeletal dynamics underlie the asymmetry of single-cell behaviour and patterning of the LR axis. Second, the pathway is not linear: early disruptions that alter the normal sidedness of upstream asymmetric genes do not necessarily induce defects in the laterality of the downstream genes or in organ situs Thus, the LR pathway is a uniq

SUBMITTER: McDowell G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5104508 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature