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The left-right determinant Inversin is a component of node monocilia and other 9+0 cilia Development 130, 1725-1734 (2003) | |
Inversin (Inv), a protein that contains ankyrin repeats, plays a key role in left-right determination during mammalian embryonic development, but its precise function remains unknown. Transgenic mice expressing an Inv and green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion construct (Inv::GFP) were established to facilitate characterization of the subcellular localization of Inv. The Inv::GFP transgene rescued the laterality defects and polycystic kidney disease of Inv/Inv mice, indicating that the fusion protein is functional. In transgenic embryos, Inv::GFP protein was detected in the node monocilia. The fusion protein was also present in other 9+0 monocilia, including those of kidney epithelial cells and the pituitary gland, but it was not localized to 9+2 cilia. The N-terminal region of Inv (InvΔC) including the ankyrin repeats also localized to the node cilia and rescued the left-right defects of Inv/Inv mutants. Although no obvious abnormalities were detected in the node monocilia of Inv/Inv embryos, the laterality defects of such embryos were corrected by an artificial leftward flow of fluid in the node, suggesting that nodal flow is impaired by the Inv mutation. These results suggest that the Inv protein contributes to left-right determination as a component of monocilia in the node and is essential for the generation of normal nodal flow.
Рис.1. | Rescue of the Inv/Inv phenotype by expression of an Inv::GFP transgene. Рис.2. | Specific localization of GFP::Inv in the primary cilia of cultured fibroblasts. Рис.3. | The endogenous Inv protein is also localized to primary cilia. Рис.4. | Inv::GFP localization during cilium formation. Рис.5. | Localization of Inv::GFP to the monocilia of the node. Рис.6. | Localization of Inv::GFP to 9+0 cilia but not to 9+2 cilia. Рис.7. | Localization of calmodulin to 9+2 cilia. Рис.8. | Localization of the ankyrin repeat domain of Inv to the node cilia and its rescue of LR defects of Inv/Inv mice. Рис.9. | Rescue of the LR defects of Inv/Inv embryos by artificial nodal flow. |
Localization of Inv::GFP to the primary cilia of fibroblasts
We examined the subcellular localization of Inv::GFP in primary fibroblasts established from newborn Inv/Inv, Inv::GFP mice. In nonfixed cells, GFP fluorescence was detected in rod-like structures protruding from the cell body (Fig. 2A-C). To determine whether these structures were primary cilia, we subjected fixed fibroblasts to immunofluorescence staining for acetylated tubulin, a marker of primary cilia and centrioles. The rod-like structures that were positive for GFP were indeed detected by antibodies to acetylated tubulin (Fig. 2D-I). These results thus indicated that, in primary fibroblasts, Inv::GFP is preferentially localized to primary cilia.
We recently developed an experimental system for the culture of mouse embryos under conditions of artificial flow of the culture medium (Nonaka et al., 2002 20 ). With this system, we showed that artificial nodal flow is able to determine LR patterning of wild-type embryos in a manner dependent on the direction and speed of flow and on the developmental stage of the embryo (Nonaka et al., 2002 20 ). We therefore tested whether artificial nodal flow was able to rescue the laterality defects of Inv/Inv mice. Exposure of Inv/Inv embryos to a fast leftward flow resulted in normal heart looping and normal embryonic turning (Fig. 9). This rescue of the LR patterning defects of Inv/Inv mice by artificial leftward flow suggested that nodal flow is impaired in Inv/Inv embryos. This conclusion is consistent with previous observations that nodal flow is slow and turbulent in Inv/Inv embryos (Okada et al., 1999 23 ), and it supports the idea that Inv plays a role in LR decision making as a component of the node monocilia.