Mechanical Strain Determines Cilia Length, Motility, and Planar Position in the Left-Right Organizer

Publication date: 7 May 2018
Source:Developmental Cell, Volume 45, Issue 3
Author(s): Yuan-Hung Chien, Shyam Srinivasan, Ray Keller, Chris Kintner
The Xenopus left-right organizer (LRO) breaks symmetry along the left-right axis of the early embryo by producing and sensing directed ciliary flow as a patterning cue. To carry out this process, the LRO contains different ciliated cell types that vary in cilia length, whether they are motile or sensory, and how they position their cilia along the anterior-posterior (A-P) planar axis. Here, we show that these different cilia features are specified in the prospective LRO during gastrulation, based on anisotropic mechanical strain that is oriented along the A-P axis, and graded in levels along the medial-lateral axis. Strain instructs ciliated cell differentiation by acting on a mesodermal prepattern present at blastula stages, involving foxj1. We propose that differential strain is a graded, developmental cue, linking the establishment of an A-P planar axis to cilia length, motility, and planar location during formation of the Xenopus LRO.

Graphical abstract

Teaser

The left-right body axis is established in Xenopus embryos by leftward fluid flow produced and sensed in the left-right organizer. Chien et al. show that the pattern of cilia differentiation required to produce this flow is determined by graded and oriented mechanical strain during gastrulation.


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