The vertebrate body plan has highly conserved left-right asymmetries in many of the internal organs, including the heart, brain, lungs and viscera (stomach, liver, spleen, gall bladder and intestinal coil). Abnormal left-right development of any of these organs with respect to the others is called discordance, and often has sever pathology. Studies in several model vertebrate systems have implicated over thirty-five genes in left-right development, predominantly in cardiac development. Many of these genes are expressed in the embryonic node and midline, which control much of dorsal-ventral and anterior- posterior development. Both embryological experiments and analysis of mutants support eh central role of the node and midline in left-right development. Thus, it is likely that the three-dimensional organism (with left-right, anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral asymmetries) is built by specific organizing centers in the node and midline. However, little is known about the genetic pathways or developmental mechanisms that coordinate the concordant development of left-right orientation in multiple organs throughout the body plan. None of the models for the mechanisms by which midline cells regulate left-right development are capable of explaining the diverse laterality defects that are seen in humans and in model organisms. The proposed research uses a combination of zebrafish genetics, molecular biology, embryological manipulations, and meta-analysis of a large collection of laterality mutants with molecular markers for asymmetry in the heart, brain and viscera. The goal is to discover the genetic pathways and mechanisms by which the organ primordia throughout the body plan are given instructions for concordant left-right development. Our working hypothesis, supported by preliminary observations and recent publications, is that distinct genetic pathways, expressed in specific domains of midline cells along the anterior-posterior axis of the embryo, regulate the concordant left-right development of the heart, brain and viscera.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HL066292-02
Application #
6537938
Study Section
Cell Development and Function Integrated Review Group (CDF)
Program Officer
Pearson, Gail D
Project Start
2001-07-15
Project End
2005-05-31
Budget Start
2002-06-01
Budget End
2003-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$300,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Utah
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Salt Lake City
State
UT
Country
United States
Zip Code
84112
Percival, Stefanie M; Thomas, Holly R; Amsterdam, Adam et al. (2015) Variations in dysfunction of sister chromatid cohesion in esco2 mutant zebrafish reflect the phenotypic diversity of Roberts syndrome. Dis Model Mech 8:941-55
Neugebauer, Judith M; Yost, H Joseph (2014) FGF signaling is required for brain left-right asymmetry and brain midline formation. Dev Biol 386:123-34
Wang, Guangliang; Yost, H Joseph; Amack, Jeffrey D (2013) Analysis of gene function and visualization of cilia-generated fluid flow in Kupffer's vesicle. J Vis Exp :
Peterson, Annita G; Wang, Xinghao; Yost, H Joseph (2013) Dvr1 transfers left-right asymmetric signals from Kupffer's vesicle to lateral plate mesoderm in zebrafish. Dev Biol 382:198-208
Bisgrove, Brent W; Makova, Svetlana; Yost, H Joseph et al. (2012) RFX2 is essential in the ciliated organ of asymmetry and an RFX2 transgene identifies a population of ciliated cells sufficient for fluid flow. Dev Biol 363:166-78
Cadwalader, Erin L; Condic, Maureen L; Yost, H Joseph (2012) 2-O-sulfotransferase regulates Wnt signaling, cell adhesion and cell cycle during zebrafish epiboly. Development 139:1296-305
Wythe, Joshua D; Jurynec, Michael J; Urness, Lisa D et al. (2011) Hadp1, a newly identified pleckstrin homology domain protein, is required for cardiac contractility in zebrafish. Dis Model Mech 4:607-21
Parant, John M; George, Stephen A; Holden, Joseph A et al. (2010) Genetic modeling of Li-Fraumeni syndrome in zebrafish. Dis Model Mech 3:45-56
Neugebauer, Judith M; Amack, Jeffrey D; Peterson, Annita G et al. (2009) FGF signalling during embryo development regulates cilia length in diverse epithelia. Nature 458:651-4
Parant, John M; George, Stephen A; Pryor, Rob et al. (2009) A rapid and efficient method of genotyping zebrafish mutants. Dev Dyn 238:3168-74

Showing the most recent 10 out of 14 publications