title: Strategies to establish left/right asymmetry in vertebrates and invertebrates.
abstract: Left/right (L/R) asymmetry is essential during embryonic development for organ positioning, looping and handed morphogenesis. A major goal in the field is to understand how embryos initially determine their left and right hand sides, a process known as symmetry breaking. A number of recent studies on several vertebrate and invertebrate model organisms have provided a more complex view on how L/R asymmetry is established, revealing an apparent partition between deuterostomes and protostomes. In deuterostomes, nodal cilia represent a conserved symmetry-breaking process; nevertheless, growing evidence shows the existence of pre-cilia L/R asymmetries involving active ion flows. In protostomes like snails and Drosophila, symmetry breaking relies on different mechanisms, involving, in particular, the actin cytoskeleton and associated molecular motors.
authors.affiliation: ISBDC, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, Parc Valrose, 06108 NICE Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spéder
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petzoldt
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzanne
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noselli
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009218:Myosins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D009218:Myosins