2 research outputs found
Bicc1 and Dicer regulate left-right patterning through post-transcriptional control of the Nodal inhibitor Dand5
Rotating cilia at the vertebrate left-right organizer (LRO) generate an asymmetric leftward flow, which is sensed by cells at the left LRO margin. Ciliary activity of the calcium channel Pkd2 is crucial for flow sensing. How this flow signal is further processed and relayed to the laterality-determining Nodal cascade in the left lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) is largely unknown. We previously showed that flow down-regulates mRNA expression of the Nodal inhibitor Dand5 in left sensory cells. De-repression of the co-expressed Nodal, complexed with the TGFĂź growth factor Gdf3, drives LPM Nodal cascade induction. Here, we show that post-transcriptional repression of dand5 is a central process in symmetry breaking of Xenopus, zebrafish and mouse. The RNA binding protein Bicc1 was identified as a post-transcriptional regulator of dand5 and gdf3 via their 3'-UTRs. Two distinct Bicc1 functions on dand5 mRNA were observed at pre- and post-flow stages, affecting mRNA stability or flow induced translational inhibition, respectively. To repress dand5, Bicc1 co-operates with Dicer1, placing both proteins in the process of flow sensing. Intriguingly, Bicc1 mediated translational repression of a dand5 3'-UTR mRNA reporter was responsive to pkd2, suggesting that a flow induced Pkd2 signal triggers Bicc1 mediated dand5 inhibition during symmetry breakage
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The coiled-coil domain containing protein CCDC40 is essential for motile cilia function and left-right axis formation
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous autosomal recessive disorder characterized by recurrent infections of the respiratory tract associated with abnormal function of motile cilia. Approximately half of PCD patients also have alterations in the left-right organization of internal organ positioning including situs inversus and situs ambiguous (Kartagener’s Syndrome, KS). Here we identify an uncharacterized coiled-coil domain containing protein (CCDC40) essential for correct left-right patterning in mouse, zebrafish and humans. Ccdc40 is expressed in tissues that contain motile cilia and mutation of Ccdc40 results in cilia with reduced ranges of motility. Importantly, we demonstrate that CCDC40 deficiency causes a novel PCD variant characterized by misplacement of central pair microtubules and defective axonemal assembly of inner dynein arms (IDAs) and dynein regulator complexes (DRCs). CCDC40 localizes to motile cilia and the apical cytoplasm and is responsible for axonemal recruitment of CCDC39, which is also mutated in a similar PCD variant