Somite formation: where left meets right.
Somites are the bilaterally symmetric embryonic precursors of the vertebrate skeleton and axial muscle. Three recent studies reveal that somites form asymmetrically in the absence of retinoic acid signaling. These results uncover an unexpected relationship between somitogenesis and left-right patterning, and suggest that bilateral somite formation is regulated along the left-right axis.
Brent
Ava E
AE
Department of Biology, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York, New York 10003, USA. ab664@nyu.edu
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology*; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D008648:Mesoderm; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019170:Somites / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000378:metabolism*
D014212:Tretinoin; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors