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Initiation of vertebrate left–right axis formation by maternal Vg1

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Abstract

IN the development of the three-dimensional vertebrate body plan, the left–right axis is linked to the dorsoventral and anterioposterior axes1,2. In humans, altered left–right development results in severe cardiovascular and visceral abnormalities in individuals and in conjoined twins3,4. Although zygotically tran-scribed genes that are asymmetrically expressed have been identified5–8, the mechanism by which left–right asymmetries are established during embryogenesis is unknown9. Here we show that the Xenopus maternal gene Vg1, a member of the TGF-β family of cell-signalling molecules which are implicated in dorsoanterior development10, initiates left–right axis forma-tion. Altered expression of Vg1 on the right side of 16-cell embryos or disruption of endogenous Vg1 signalling on the left side randomizes cardiac and visceral left-right orientation and alters expression of Xnr-1, a nodal-related molecular marker for left–right development8. Furthermore, the orientation of the left–right axis in conjoined twins is dependent upon which cell-signalling molecule initiated twin formation and on whether the secondary axis is on the left or right side of the primary embryonic axis, implicating a molecular pathway leading to the formation of conjoined twins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Cell Biology and Neuroanatomy, University of Minnesota, 4-135 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street S. E., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA

    Brian A. Hyatt & H. Joseph Yost

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, 4-135 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street S. E., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA

    Jamie L. Lohr

Authors
  1. Brian A. Hyatt
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  2. Jamie L. Lohr
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  3. H. Joseph Yost
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Hyatt, B., Lohr, J. & Yost, H. Initiation of vertebrate left–right axis formation by maternal Vg1. Nature 384, 62–65 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/384062a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/384062a0

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