The human body is symmetrical across the left-right axis, but there are left-right asymmetries in the shape of most internal organs.
There is a small cluster of cells called the left-right organizers. The first sign of a left-right difference is when the motile cilia beat rapidly to create a leftward flow of fluid.
This early flow has been shown to be critical to the distinction of right from left; however, how this flow is sensed and translated into left-right asymmetrically is not known.
According to a new study led by Massachusetts General Hospital, the creators of the flow are the cilia in the organizers.
Science published the findings.
An investigator in the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital says that cilia and flow in the organizers are essential for body left-right symmetry. We don't have the right tools to study how this all works.
The researchers used a novel optical toolkit consisting of custom-built microscopes and machine learning analysis to overcome this challenge.
Their approach was unique as they developed and deployed optical tweezers, a biophysical tool that uses light to hold and move tiny objects similar to a tractor beam.
The researchers found that cilia are important for left-right asymmetry of the developing body and organs.
By using optical tweezers to apply mechanical force onto cilia in the left-right organizers of zebrafish, they were able to show that a subset of cilia sense and translate flow forces into calcium signals.
Heterotaxy syndrome is one of the many human disorders associated with left-right asymmetry.
New avenues for the development of novel diagnostics of these disorders may be opened by the knowledge gleaned from this study. This work could pave the way for targeted therapies to improve outcomes.
The researchers are looking at the mechanisms that govern the force of cilia. The long-term goal is to develop novel tools for the treatment of cilia- associated disorders.
Scott E. Fraser, the professor of biology and bioengineering at the University of Southern California, is a co-author of the study. It reminds us that we have more to learn.
MGH and Harvard Medical School have more than one additional author. Thai V. Truong is from the University of Southern California.
Lydia Djenoune and her team show how Cilia function as calcium-mediated mechanosensors that instruct left-right asymmetry. There is a science.
Journal information: Science
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