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SUMMARY:Emergence of a left-right symmetric body plan during embryonic dev
 elopment  - Sundar Naganathan (EPFL\, Lausanne\, Switzerland) 
DTSTART:20220131T143000Z
DTEND:20220131T153000Z
UID:TALK168974@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Elena Scarpa
DESCRIPTION:Vertebrates are characterized by a left-right symmetric muscle
  and skeletal system that emerges from bilateral somites during embryonic 
 development. Left-right symmetry is vital for adult mechanical movements a
 nd a loss of symmetry is associated with debilitating skeletal disorders s
 uch as scoliosis. Symmetry is often assumed to be a default state in somit
 e formation\, however\, it remains unknown how robust somite shapes and si
 zes at the same position along the body axis emerge on the left and right 
 sides of the embryo. \n\nBy imaging left-right somite formation in zebrafi
 sh embryos using light-sheet microscopy and by developing automated image 
 analysis tools\, we reveal that initial somite anteroposterior lengths and
  positions are imprecise and consequently many somite pairs form left-righ
 t asymmetrically in contrast to the textbook view. Strikingly\, these impr
 ecisions are not left unchecked and we find that lengths adjust within an 
 hour after somite formation\, thereby increasing morphological symmetry. \
 nWe discover an error correction mechanism\, where length adjustment is fa
 cilitated by somite surface tension\, which we show by comparing in vivo e
 xperiments and in vitro single-somite explant cultures with a mechanical m
 odel. We propose that tissue surface tension provides a general mechanism 
 to adjust shapes and ensure precision and symmetry of tissues in developin
 g embryos. 
LOCATION:Online
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