Breaking the left-right axis: do nodal parcels pass a signal to the left?
In mammals, left-right symmetry is broken by a mechanically driven leftward flow of liquid at the embryonic node (nodal flow). Various models have emerged explaining how this may happen. Work from Tanaka and colleagues has provided a new mechanism by which nodal flow may be breaking symmetry. They describe small membrane-bound particles, which they term nodal vesicular parcels (NVPs), that are carried to the left side of the node. In the paper, they argue how signals carried within these parcels may break L-R symmetry.
Norris
Dominic
D
MRC Mammalian Genetics Unit, Harwell, Oxfordshire OX11 0RD, UK. d.norris@har.mrc.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D004628:Embryonic Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction