Vertebrate left-right asymmetry: Old studies and new insights

Citation
M. Blum et al., Vertebrate left-right asymmetry: Old studies and new insights, CELL MOL B, 45(5), 1999, pp. 505-516
Citations number
60
Categorie Soggetti
Cell & Developmental Biology
Journal title
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
ISSN journal
01455680 → ACNP
Volume
45
Issue
5
Year of publication
1999
Pages
505 - 516
Database
ISI
SICI code
0145-5680(199907)45:5<505:VLAOSA>2.0.ZU;2-H
Abstract
During vertebrate embryonic development, the organs of the chest and abdome n, heart, lung and gastrointestinal tract, aquire characteristic asymmetric positions with respect to the left-right body axis. In the beginning of th e 20th century Hans Spemann and his co-workers described manipulations of a mphibian embryos which resulted in inversion of organ laterality in a predi ctable manner. Hedwig Wilhelmi concluded from these experiments that determ inants on the left side of the embryo specifiy laterality, and Meyer postul ated that a mediator should transfer this positional information to the for ming heart. In this review we discuss the classical experiments in the ligh t of recent advances in the molecular understanding of left-right developme nt, with a focus on the mediator role of the homeobox gene Pitx2.