The activity of the Nodal antagonist Cerl-2 in the mouse node is required for correct L/R body axis

• Autor(a) principal: Marques, Sara
• Data de Publicação: 2004
• Outros Autores: Borges, Ana, Silva, Ana Cristina, Freitas, Sandra, Cordenonsi, M., Belo, José A.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11863
• topic: Left/right asymmetry; Neuralizing activity; Secreted factor; Cerberus like; Expression; Pitx2; Bmp; Lefty-2; Vertebrates; Mechanisms

Correct establishment of the left/right (L/R) body asymmetry in the mouse embryo requires asymmetric activation of the evolutionarily conserved Nodal signaling cascade in the left lateral plate mesoderm (L-LPM). Furthermore, the presence of Nodal in the node is essential for its own expression in the L-LPM. Here, we have characterized the function of cerl-2, a novel Nodal antagonist, which displays a unique asymmetric expression on the right side of the mouse node. cerl-2 knockout mice display multiple laterality defects including randomization of the L/R axis. These defects can be partially rescued by removing one nodal allele. Our results demonstrate that Cerl-2 plays a key role in restricting the Nodal signaling pathway toward the left side of the mouse embryo by preventing its activity in the right side.