Integrin alphaV is necessary for gastrulation movements that regulate vertebrate body asymmetry.

ABSTRACT: Integrin ?V can form heterodimers with several ? subunits to mediate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. During zebrafish gastrulation, ?V is expressed maternally and zygotically. Here, we used a morpholino-mediated ?V knockdown strategy to study ?V function. Although ?V morphants displayed vascular defects, they also exhibited left-right body asymmetry defects affecting multiple visceral organs. This was preceded by mislocalization of dorsal forerunner cells (DFCs) and malformation of the Kupffer's vesicle (KV) laterality organ. These defects were rescued with morpholino-resistant ?V mRNA. Like ?V, integrin ?1b was expressed in DFCs, and ?1b knockdown largely recapitulated the laterality phenotype of ?V morphants. When tracked in real-time, individual DFCs of both morphants showed defects in DFC migration, preventing them from organizing into a KV of normal shape and size. Thus, we propose that ?V?1b mediates cellular interactions that are necessary for DFC clustering and movements necessary for Kupffer's vesicle formation, uncovering an early contribution of integrins to the regulation of vertebrate laterality.

SUBMITTER: Ablooglu AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2947757 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature