Davis Nicole M, Kurpios Natasza A, Sun Xiaoxia, Gros Jerome, Martin James F, Tabin Clifford J
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Dev Cell. 2008 Jul;15(1):134-45. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2008.05.001.
We have investigated the structural basis by which the counterclockwise direction of the amniote gut is established. The chirality of midgut looping is determined by left-right asymmetries in the cellular architecture of the dorsal mesentery, the structure that connects the primitive gut tube to the body wall. The mesenchymal cells of the dorsal mesentery are more condensed on the left side than on the right and, additionally, the overlying epithelium on the left side exhibits a columnar morphology, in contrast to a cuboidal morphology on the right. These properties are instructed by a set of transcription factors: Pitx2 and Isl1 specifically expressed on the left side, and Tbx18 expressed on the right, regulated downstream of the secreted protein Nodal which is present exclusively on the left side. The resultant differences in cellular organization cause the mesentery to assume a trapezoidal shape, tilting the primitive gut tube leftward.
我们研究了羊膜动物肠道逆时针方向得以确立的结构基础。中肠袢的手性由背系膜细胞结构中的左右不对称性决定,背系膜是连接原始肠管与体壁的结构。背系膜的间充质细胞在左侧比右侧更为密集,此外,左侧覆盖的上皮呈现柱状形态,而右侧为立方形态。这些特性由一组转录因子决定:Pitx2和Isl1特异性表达于左侧,Tbx18表达于右侧,它们受仅在左侧存在的分泌蛋白Nodal下游调控。细胞组织的这些差异导致系膜呈梯形,使原始肠管向左倾斜。