| First Author | Okada Y | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 121 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 633-44 |
| PubMed ID | 15907475 | Mgi Jnum | J:98946 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3580761 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cell.2005.04.008 |
| Citation | Okada Y, et al. (2005) Mechanism of nodal flow: a conserved symmetry breaking event in left-right axis determination. Cell 121(4):633-44 |
| abstractText | The leftward flow in extraembryonic fluid is critical for the initial determination of the left-right axis of mouse embryos. It is unclear if this is a conserved mechanism among other vertebrates and how the directionality of the flow arises from the motion of cilia. In this paper, we show that rabbit and medakafish embryos also exhibit a leftward fluid flow in their ventral nodes. In all cases, primary monocilia present a clockwise rotational-like motion. Observations of defective ciliary dynamics in mutant mouse embryos support the idea that the posterior tilt of the cilia during rotational-like beating can explain the leftward fluid flow. Moreover, we show that this leftward flow may produce asymmetric distribution of exogenously introduced proteins, suggesting morphogen gradients as a subsequent mechanism of left-right axis determination. Finally, we experimentally and theoretically characterize under which conditions a morphogen gradient can arise from the flow. |
