title: Establishment of left-right asymmetry in vertebrate development: the node in mouse embryos.
abstract: Establishment of vertebrate left-right asymmetry is a critical process for normal embryonic development. After the discovery of genes expressed asymmetrically along the left-right axis in chick embryos in the mid 1990s, the molecular mechanisms responsible for left-right patterning in vertebrate embryos have been studied extensively. In this review article, we discuss the mechanisms by which the initial symmetry along the left-right axis is broken in the mouse embryo. We focus on the role of primary cilia and molecular mechanisms of ciliogenesis at the node when symmetry is broken and left-right asymmetry is established. The node is considered a signaling center for early mouse embryonic development, and the results we review here have led to a better understanding of how the node functions and establishes left-right asymmetry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, 1011 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mishina
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002923:Cilia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D055457:Nodal Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D020897:Organizers, Embryonic / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D055457:Nodal Protein; C526008:Nodal protein, mouse