Retinoic acid coordinates somitogenesis and left-right patterning in vertebrate embryos
Julien Vermot1, Olivier Pourquié
1Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000E 50th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA.
Nature
|May 13, 2005
Summary
Retinoic acid (RA) is crucial for synchronized embryonic development. Blocking RA disrupts somite formation, causing asymmetry by interfering with the segmentation clock and left-right asymmetry pathways.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Embryology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Bilateral symmetry is a fundamental animal body plan.
- Mechanisms controlling embryonic left-right symmetry remain largely unknown.
- Retinoic acid (RA) is a key developmental signaling molecule.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the role of retinoic acid (RA) in regulating embryonic bilateral symmetry.
- Explore the connection between RA, somitogenesis, and left-right asymmetry.
- Understand how RA influences the synchronization of embryonic development.
Main Methods:
- Blocking retinoic acid (RA) production in chicken embryos.
- Analyzing somite formation and segmentation clock oscillations.
- Investigating left-right asymmetry by reversing situs in RA-deficient embryos (chick and mouse).
Main Results:
- RA deficiency caused desynchronized somite formation, with a shortened left segmented region.
- This defect correlated with disrupted segmentation clock oscillations.
- Reversing situs in RA-deficient embryos reversed the somitogenesis laterality defect.
Conclusions:
- Retinoic acid (RA) is essential for synchronizing left-right embryonic development.
- RA acts as a buffer, modulating the influence of left-right asymmetry machinery.
- Proper RA levels are necessary for coordinated somitogenesis and establishing bilateral symmetry.
More Related Videos
09:04Analysis of Retinoic Acid-induced Neural Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells in Two and Three-dimensional Embryoid Bodies
Published on: April 22, 2017
06:49Analysis of Cell Differentiation, Morphogenesis, and Patterning During Chicken Embryogenesis Using the Soaked-Bead Assay
Published on: January 12, 2022
Related Concept Videos
01:51Determination
During embryogenesis, cells become progressively committed to different fates through a two-step process: specification followed by determination. Specification is demonstrated by removing a segment of an early embryo, “neutrally” culturing the tissue in vitro—for example, in a petri dish with simple medium—and then observing the derivatives. If the cultured region gives rise to cell types that it would normally generate in the embryo, this means that it is specified. In contrast, determination...
01:20The Retinoblastoma Gene
Tumor suppressor genes are normal genes that can slow down cell division, repair DNA mistakes, or program the cells for apoptosis in case of irreparable damage. Hence, they play an essential role in preventing the proliferation of damaged cells.
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
01:21Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins
Cell polarity is the asymmetric distribution of cellular and membrane components, making one side of the cell different from the other. This polarity is essential to many processes such as embryogenesis, axon migration, glucose transport across epithelial cells, and directional cell migration. A migrating cell responds to intracellular or extracellular signals via molecular cascades that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton to establish this polarity. In these cells, the Rho family proteins Cdc42,...
01:20The Retinoblastoma Gene
Tumor suppressor genes are normal genes that can slow down cell division, repair DNA mistakes, or program the cells for apoptosis in case of irreparable damage. Hence, they play an essential role in preventing the proliferation of damaged cells.
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...