Left-right patterning from the inside out: widespread evidence for intracellular control

The field of left-right (LR) patterning--the study of molecular mechanisms that yield directed morphological asymmetries in otherwise symmetrical organisms--is in disarray. On one hand is the undeniably elegant hypothesis that rotary beating of inclined cilia is the primary symmetry-breaking step: they create an asymmetric extracellular flow across the embryonic midline. On the other hand lurk many early symmetry-breaking steps that, even in some vertebrates, precede the onset of ciliary flow. We highlight an intracellular model of LR patterning where gene expression is initiated by physiological asymmetries that arise from subcellular asymmetries (e.g. motor-protein function along oriented cytoskeletal tracks). A survey of symmetry breaking in eukaryotes ranging from protists to vertebrates suggests that intracellular cytoskeletal elements are ancient and primary LR cues. Evolutionarily, quirky effectors like ciliary motion were likely added later in vertebrates. In some species (like mice), developmentally earlier cues may have been abandoned entirely. Late-developing asymmetries pose a challenge to the intracellular model, but early mid-plane determination in many groups increases its plausibility. Multiple experimental tests are possible.     

Left-right development from embryos to brains

Bilateran animals have external bilateral symmetry along the dorsoventral (DV) and anteroposterior (AP) axes. Internal left-right asymmetries appear to be consistently aligned along the left-right (LR) axis with respect to the other axes. Left-right development is most apparent in the directional looping of the cardiac tube, the coiling and placement of the intestines, the positioning of internal organs such as liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and stomach. In addition, there are obvious morphological asymmetries in the brains of some vertebrates and functional left-right asymmetries in the activities of the brain, as assessed by psychological testing, MRI, and the analysis of lesions. There are several fundamental questions: What are the origins of the left-right axis, and are they highly conserved across metazoans? Once the left-right axis is established by the initial breaking of bilateral symmetry, what is the genetic pathway that perpetrates left-right development? What are the cellular and tissue mechanics that lead to morphogenesis during, for example, the looping of the cardiac tube, the coiling of the gut, or asymmetric brain development? Finally, do the asymmetric developmental pathways of each organ system take register from the same initial event that establishes the left-right axis, or are there separate mechanisms that orient heart, gut, and brain left-right asymmetry with respect to the DV and AP axes? These questions are beginning to be experimentally addressed, and papers in this issue of Developmental Genetics make contributions to several aspects in the burgeoning field of left-right development. Recent reviews have summarized the emerging genes and pathways in vertebrate left-right development [Wood, 1997; Harvey, 1998; Ramsdell and Yost, 1998]. Here, I give an overview of the contributions in this issue to the fundamental questions in left-right development. Dev. Genet. 23:159–163, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Unveiling the establishment of left-right asymmetry in the chick embryo

Vertebrates display striking left-right asymmetries in the placement of internal organs, which are concealed by a seemingly bilaterally symmetric body plan. The establishment of asymmetries about the left-right axis occurs early during embryo development and requires the concerted and sequential action of several epigenetic, genetic and cellular mechanisms. Experiments in the chick embryo model have contributed crucially to our current understanding of such mechanisms and are reviewed here. Particular emphasis is given to the elucidation of a genetic network that conveys left-right information from Hensen's node to the organ primordia, characterized to a significant degree of detail in the chick embryo. We also point out a number of early and late events in the determination of left-right asymmetries that are currently poorly understood and for whose study the chick embryo model presents several advantages. We anticipate that the availability of the chick genome sequence will be combined with multidisciplinary approaches from experimental embryology, biophysics, live-cell imaging, and mathematical modeling to boost up our knowledge of left-right organ asymmetry in the near future.     

The zebrafish nodal-related gene southpaw is required for visceral and diencephalic left-right asymmetry

We have identified and characterized a new zebrafish gene, southpaw, that is required for visceral and diencephalic left-right asymmetry. southpaw encodes a new member of the nodal-related class of proteins, a subfamily within the transforming growth factor beta superfamily of secreted factors. southpaw is expressed bilaterally in paraxial mesoderm precursors and then within the left lateral plate mesoderm. At late somite stages, left-sided southpaw expression transiently overlaps the left-sided expression domains of other genes that mark the developing heart, such as lefty2. We have injected morpholinos to block the translation of the southpaw mRNA or to block splicing of the southpaw pre-mRNA. These morpholinos cause a severe disruption of early (cardiac jogging) and late (cardiac looping) aspects of cardiac left-right asymmetry. As the left-right asymmetry of the pancreas is also affected, southpaw appears to regulate left-right asymmetry throughout a large part of the embryo. Consistent with the morphological changes, the left-sided expression domains of downstream genes (cyclops, pitx2, lefty1 and lefty2) are severely downregulated or abolished within the lateral plate mesoderm of Southpaw-deficient embryos. Surprisingly, despite the absence of southpaw expression in the brain, we find that early diencephalic left-right asymmetry also requires Southpaw activity. These observations lead to a model of how visceral organ and brain left-right asymmetry are coordinated during embryogenesis.     

Sequential transfer of left-right information during vertebrate embryo development

The establishment of left-right asymmetries in the vertebrate embryo is carried out by complex genetic interactions that impart left- or right-sided information to the developing organs and structures. The origin of LR information is still unclear, but recent advances have provided new insights as to how it is relayed to the embryo node, and thereafter to the lateral plate mesoderm. In both steps, signaling by members of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily plays critical roles in amplifying and spreading LR cues, which are reviewed here.     

Origin of body axes in the mouse embryo

How and at what stage of development are the axes of the body determined? The left-right axis of the mouse embryo is generated de novo at embryonic day (E) 8.0 in a manner dependent on pre-existing positional cues. The anterior-posterior (A-P) axis becomes apparent earlier when distally located visceral endoderm migrates toward the future anterior side at E5.5. The direction of this migration is predetermined by asymmetric expression of Lefty1 and Cerl1(Cerberus-like 1). Asymmetric expression of Lefty1 takes place even earlier, in the primitive endoderm of the implanting blastocyst, pushing back the origin of the A-P axis to the peri-implantation stage. Although its functional significance remains to be seen, studies on how this molecular asymmetry emerges may provide insight into the origin of A-P polarity. The first cell fate decision occurs by the morula stage. Although blastomeres at the two-cell or four-cell stage may have biased fates, it is currently unknown whether this bias has any causal relation to later fate.     

Polarity proteins are required for left-right axis orientation and twin-twin instruction

Two main classes of models address the earliest steps of left-right patterning: those postulating that asymmetry is initiated via cilia-driven fluid flow in a multicellular tissue at gastrulation, and those postulating that asymmetry is amplified from intrinsic chirality of individual cells at very early embryonic stages. A recent study revealed that cultured human cells have consistent left-right (LR) biases that are dependent on apical-basal polarity machinery. The ability of single cells to set up asymmetry suggests that cellular chirality could be converted to embryonic laterality by cilia-independent polarity mechanisms in cell fields. To examine the link between cellular polarity and LR patterning in a vertebrate model organism, we probed the roles of apical-basal and planar polarity proteins in the orientation of the LR axis in Xenopus. Molecular loss-of-function targeting these polarity pathways specifically randomizes organ situs independently of contribution to the ciliated organ. Alterations in cell polarity also disrupt tight junction integrity, localization of the LR signaling molecule serotonin, the normally left-sided expression of Xnr-1, and the LR instruction occurring between native and ectopic organizers. We propose that well-conserved polarity complexes are required for LR asymmetry and that cell polarity signals establish the flow of laterality information across the early blastoderm independently of later ciliary functions. genesis 50:219-234, 2012. ? 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Ectodermal syndecan-2 mediates left-right axis formation in migrating mesoderm as a cell-nonautonomous Vg1 cofactor.

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans expressed on the Xenopus animal cap ectoderm have been implicated in transmitting left-right information to heart and gut primordia. We report here that syndecan-2 functions in the ectoderm to mediate cardiac and visceral situs, upstream of known asymmetrically expressed genes but independently of its ability to mediate fibronectin fibrillogenesis. Left-right development is dependent on a distinct subset of glycosaminoglycan attachment sites on syndecan-2. A novel in vivo approach with enterokinase demonstrates that syndecan-2 functions in left-right patterning during early gastrulation. We describe a cell-nonautonomous role for ectodermal syndecan-2 in transmitting left-right information to migrating mesoderm. The results further suggest that this function may be related to the transduction of Vg1-related signals.     

Left-right patterning in the mouse requires Epb4.1l5-dependent morphogenesis of the node and midline

The mouse node is a transient early embryonic structure that is required for left-right asymmetry and for generation of the axial midline, which patterns neural and mesodermal tissues. The node is a shallow teardrop-shaped pit that sits at the distal tip of the early headfold (e7.75) embryo. The shape of the node is believed to be important for generation of the coherent leftward fluid flow required for initiation of left-right asymmetry, but little is known about the morphogenesis of the node. Here we show that the FERM domain protein Lulu/Epb4.1l5 is required for left-right asymmetry in the early mouse embryo. Unlike other genes previously shown to be required for left-right asymmetry in the mouse, lulu is not required for specification of node cell identity, for Nodal signaling in the node or for ciliogenesis. Instead, lulu is required for proper morphogenesis of the node and midline. The precursors of the wild-type node undergo a series of rapid morphological transitions. First, node precursors arise from an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition at the anterior primitive streak. While in the mesenchymal layer, the node precursors form several ciliated rosette-like clusters; they then rapidly undergo a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition to insert into the outer, endodermal layer of the embryo. In lulu mutants, node precursor cells are specified and form clusters, but those clusters fail to coalesce to make a single continuous node epithelium. The data suggest that the assembly of the contiguous node epithelium from mesenchymal clusters requires a rapid reorganization of apical-basal polarity that depends on Lulu/Epb4.1l5.     

terra is a left-right asymmetry gene required for left-right synchronization of the segmentation clock

To establish the vertebrate body plan, it is fundamental to create left-right asymmetry in the lateral-plate mesoderm to correctly position the organs. However, it is also crucial to maintain symmetry between the left and the right sides of the presomitic mesoderm, ensuring the allocation of symmetrical body structures, such as the axial skeleton and skeletal muscles. Here, we show that terra is an early left-sided expressed gene that links left-right patterning with bilateral synchronization of the segmentation clock.     

The LIM protein Ajuba is required for ciliogenesis and left-right axis determination in medaka

Cilia are microtubule-based organelles that are present on the surfaces of almost all vertebrate cells. Most cilia function as sensory or molecular transport structures. Malfunctions of cilia have been implicated in several diseases of human development. The assembly of cilia is initiated by the centriole (or basal body), and several centrosomal proteins are involved in this process. The mammalian LIM protein Ajuba is a well-studied centrosomal protein that regulates cell division but its role in ciliogenesis is unknown. In this study, we isolated the medaka homolog of Ajuba and showed that Ajuba localizes to basal bodies of cilia in growth-arrested cells. Knockdown of Ajuba resulted in randomized left-right organ asymmetries and altered expression of early genes responsible for left-right body axis determination. At the cellular level, we found that Ajuba function was essential for ciliogenesis in the cells lining Kupffer’s vesicle; it is these cells that induce the asymmetric fluid flow required for left-right axis determination. Taken together, our findings identify a novel role for Ajuba in the regulation of vertebrate ciliogenesis and left-right axis determination.     

Retinoic acid affects left-right patterning.

Our understanding of the means by which the left-right axis is patterned is not fully understood, although a number of key intermediaries have been recently described. We report here that retinoic acid (RA) excess affects heart situs concomitant with alterations in the expression of genes implicated in the establishment of the left-right axis. Specifically, RA exposure during a specific developmental window evoked bilateral expression of lefty-1, lefty-2, nodal, and pitx-2 in the lateral plate mesoderm. Time course experiments, together with analysis of midline markers, suggest that nascent mesoderm constitutes a predominant RA target involved in this process. These events are likely to underlie the perturbations of heart looping provoked by excess RA and suggest a means by which retinoids influence the early steps in establishment of the left-right embryonic axis.     

Rotation and asymmetric development of the zebrafish heart requires directed migration of cardiac progenitor cells

We have used high-resolution 4D imaging of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) in zebrafish to investigate the earliest left-right asymmetric movements during cardiac morphogenesis. Differential migratory behavior within the heart field was observed, resulting in a rotation of the heart tube. The leftward displacement and rotation of the tube requires hyaluronan synthase 2 expression within the CPCs. Furthermore, by reducing or ectopically activating BMP signaling or by implantation of BMP beads we could demonstrate that BMP signaling, which is asymmetrically activated in the lateral plate mesoderm and regulated by early left-right signals, is required to direct CPC migration and cardiac rotation. Together, these results support a model in which CPCs migrate toward a BMP source during development of the linear heart tube, providing a mechanism by which the left-right axis drives asymmetric development of the vertebrate heart.     

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor shows transient left-right asymmetrical expression in mouse myotome pairs

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a potent mitogen and chemoattractant for diverse cell types including, keratinocytes, fibroblasts and vascular smooth muscle cells. In adult mice, skeletal muscle and endothelial cells prominently express HB-EGF, although analysis of embryonic expression has been limited to studies of heart and kidney development. Here we survey HB-EGF mRNA expression in E7.5-E15 mouse embryos and show that HB-EGF is expressed in branchial arches, limb buds and, transiently, in mature somites between E9.25 and E11. This somitic expression is restricted to the myotomal compartment. Intriguingly, within myotome pairs, the expression of HB-EGF is stronger on the left side of the body, whilst cognate receptors, ErbB1 and ErbB4, are symmetrically expressed in left and right somite pairs. In iv/iv mutant embryos, with inverted left-right body axis, the expression of HB-EGF was also inverted, now being stronger in myotomes on the right side of the body. Thus, the expression of HB-EGF in myotome pairs is regulated by global cues that define the left-right body axis.     

Inhibition of proteoglycan synthesis eliminates left-right asymmetry in Xenopus laevis cardiac looping

The heart of any vertebrate is formed from an apparently symmetric cardiac tube that loops consistently in the same direction along the left-right axis of the embryo. In the amphibian Xenopus laevis, inhibition of proteoglycan synthesis by p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside during a narrow period of development from late gastrula to early neurula specifically eliminated the looping of the cardiac tube. Most of the proteoglycans synthesized during this period were heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Treatment with p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-xylopyranoside, an analogue that does not inhibit proteoglycan synthesis, did not interfere with cardiac looping. The critical period for proteoglycan synthesis was coincident with the migration of cardiac primordia to the ventral midline. The inhibition of cardiac looping was further explored in explants of cardiac primordia and anterioventral ectoderm. In recombinate embryos in which half the embryo, and thus one of the two heart primordia, was treated with p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside, and the other half was untreated, cardiac looping occurred normally. It is proposed that the left-right axis in Xenopus, as reflected in cardiac looping, is established early in development, and that proteoglycan synthesis is involved in the transduction of left-right axial information to the cardiac primordia during migration.     

Insights into the establishment of left-right asymmetries in vertebrates

The body-plan of vertebrates, while exteriorly essentially symmetric along its medio-lateral plane, displays numerous left-right differences in the disposition and placement of internal organs. Such left-right asymmetries, established during embryogenesis, are controlled by complex epigenetic and genetic cascades that impart laterality information to the different embryo structures and organ primordia. A key and evolutionarily conserved feature of these information cascades among vertebrate embryos is the left-sided transfer of information from the node to the lateral plate mesoderm during early somitogenesis stages. We review here recent evidence concerning the mechanisms that regulate the laterality of such transfer. Furthermore, we propose a model of left-right axis specification that underscores the role of the node as an integrator of laterality information and the evolutionary conservation of the mechanisms that convey such information to and from the node.     

Left-right positioning of the adult rudiment in sea urchin larvae is directed by the right side.

Indirect-developing sea urchins eventually form an adult rudiment on the left side through differential left-right development in the late larval stages. Components of the adult rudiment, such as the hydropore canal, the hydrocoel and the primary vestibule, all develop on the left side alone, and are the initial morphological traits that exhibit left-right differences. Although it has previously been shown that partial embryos dissected in cleavage stages correctly determine the normal left-right placement of the adult rudiment, the timing and the mechanism that determine left-right polarity during normal development remain unknown. In order to determine these, we have carried out a series of regional operations in two indirect-developing sea urchin species. We excised all or a part of tissue on the left or right side of the embryos during the early gastrula stage and the two-armed pluteus stage, and examined the left-right position of the adult rudiment, and of its components. Excisions of tissues on the left side of the embryos, regardless of stage, resulted in formation of a left adult rudiment, as in normal development. By contrast, excisions on the right side of the embryos resulted in three different types of impairment in the left-right placement of the adult rudiment in a stage-dependent manner. Generally, when the adult rudiment was definitively formed only on the right side of the larvae, no trace of basic development of the components of the adult rudiment was found on the left side, indicating that a right adult rudiment results from reversal of the initial left-right polarity but not from a later inhibitory effect on the development of an adult rudiment. Thus, we suggest that determination of the left-right placement of the adult rudiment depends on a process, which is directed by the right side, of polarity establishment during the gastrula and the prism stages; however, but commitment of the cell fate to initiate formation of the adult rudiment occurs later than the two-armed pluteus stage.     

Hatching responses of subsocial spitting spiders to predation risk

The carrying of eggs often renders parents vulnerable to predators due to increased conspicuousness or decreased mobility. Nonetheless, egg-carrying parents can escape from the predators to which they are vulnerable. Previous studies have demonstrated heavy predation by spider-eating jumping spiders (Portia labiata) on egg-carrying spitting spider (Scytodes pallida) females, but little predation on eggless females. If the timing of hatching is phenotypically plastic, then both S. pallida females and their eggs could reduce the risk of predation by hatching early. Hence, this study examines the hatching responses of S. pallida to chemical cues from P. labiata, both in the laboratory and in the field, and addresses the following questions. (i) Do cues from predatory P. labiata influence the hatching traits of S. pallida? (ii) Are the olfactory cues from predators sufficient for predator detection by S. pallida ? (iii) Are hatching responses to predatory P. labiata controlled by egg-carrying S. pallida females, or directly by their embryos? The study provides evidence of hatching as a life-history switch point, which shows an adaptive plasticity in response to predation risk in egg-carrying S. pallida. Egg-carrying S. pallida females, but not unattended eggs, adjust egg-hatching time (the interval between oviposition and hatching) in response to the threat of predation on both the female and her eggs by P. labiata. In the presence of P. labiata, eggs that are carried by females hatch sooner; the hatchlings of these eggs are therefore smaller than hatchlings born in the absence of P. labiata. Chemical cues that are released from the draglines of P. labiata are sufficient to elicit changes in the egg-hatching traits of S. pallida. Hatching early in response to this predator may benefit both females and their offspring. To my knowledge, this is the first direct experimental study to demonstrate predator-induced hatching plasticity in spiders and, in particular, in animals with parental care.