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Symmetry
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Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology
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Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Life Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 19501

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kenji Matsuno

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Guest Editor
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Takashi Hashimoto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Biological Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Takayama 8916-5, Ikoma, Nara, 630-0192, Japan
Prof. Dr. Hiroshi Hamada

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory for Organismal Patterning, RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Directional left–right symmetry is a fundamental property of organisms, including bacteria, protozoans, plants, and animals. However, the underlying mechanisms of left–right symmetry formation remain a fascinating mystery. For example, in humans, the positions and shapes of internal organs, such as the heart, lung, and gut, show stereotypical left–right asymmetry. Conditions of left–right inversion were already perceived in humans in the 19th century, leading to a belief that something must direct from left to right. A pivotal breakthough was made with the proposal of the “nodal flow model”, in which the leftward flow of extra-embryonic fluid acts as the first cue to start the left–right asymmetric development. To date, mechanisms of left–right asymmetry formation have been studied in many organisms. In Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa, chirality of cells and blastomeres is responsible for the left–right asymmetric development. In plants, the organization of microtubules is central to their left–right asymmetric structures. Based on these findings, interestingly, the mechanisms of left–right asymmetric development are exceedingly evolutionarily divergent. It is easy to imagine that these divergent mechanisms depend on distinctive cellular machineries. In other words, a wide range of cellular machineries and functions are utilized to achieve left–right asymmetric development in various organisms. In this Special Issue, the cell biology underlying left–right asymmetric development will be summarized and discussed. We hope that this Special Issue will help to advance our knowledge of left–right asymmetry formation.

Prof. Dr. Kenji Matsuno
Prof. Dr. Takashi Hashimoto
Prof. Dr. Hiroshi Hamada
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 1648 KiB  
Article
Handedness Does Not Impact Inhibitory Control, but Movement Execution and Reactive Inhibition Are More under a Left-Hemisphere Control
by Christian Mancini and Giovanni Mirabella
Symmetry 2021, 13(9), 1602; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13091602 - 1 Sep 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6667
Abstract
The relationship between handedness, laterality, and inhibitory control is a valuable benchmark for testing the hypothesis of the right-hemispheric specialization of inhibition. According to this theory, and given that to stop a limb movement, it is sufficient to alter the activity of the [...] Read more.
The relationship between handedness, laterality, and inhibitory control is a valuable benchmark for testing the hypothesis of the right-hemispheric specialization of inhibition. According to this theory, and given that to stop a limb movement, it is sufficient to alter the activity of the contralateral hemisphere, then suppressing a left arm movement should be faster than suppressing a right-arm movement. This is because, in the latter case, inhibitory commands produced in the right hemisphere should be sent to the other hemisphere. Further, as lateralization of cognitive functions in left-handers is less pronounced than in right-handers, in the former, the inhibitory control should rely on both hemispheres. We tested these predictions on a medium-large sample of left- and right-handers (n = 52). Each participant completed two sessions of the reaching versions of the stop-signal task, one using the right arm and one using the left arm. We found that reactive and proactive inhibition do not differ according to handedness. However, we found a significant advantage of the right versus the left arm in canceling movements outright. By contrast, there were no differences in proactive inhibition. As we also found that participants performed movements faster with the right than with the left arm, we interpret our results in light of the dominant role of the left hemisphere in some aspects of motor control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology)
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12 pages, 1674 KiB  
Article
Statistical Validation Verifies That Enantiomorphic States of Chiral Cells Are Determinant Dictating the Left- or Right-Handed Direction of the Hindgut Rotation in Drosophila
by Tomoki Ishibashi, Mikiko Inaki and Kenji Matsuno
Symmetry 2020, 12(12), 1991; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12121991 - 2 Dec 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3089
Abstract
In the left–right (LR) asymmetric development of invertebrates, cell chirality is crucial. A left- or right-handed cell structure directs morphogenesis with corresponding LR-asymmetry. In Drosophila, cell chirality is thought to drive the LR-asymmetric development of the embryonic hindgut and other organs. This [...] Read more.
In the left–right (LR) asymmetric development of invertebrates, cell chirality is crucial. A left- or right-handed cell structure directs morphogenesis with corresponding LR-asymmetry. In Drosophila, cell chirality is thought to drive the LR-asymmetric development of the embryonic hindgut and other organs. This hypothesis is supported only by an apparent concordance between the LR-directionality of cell chirality and hindgut rotation and by computer simulations that connect the two events. In this article, we mathematically evaluated the causal relationship between the chirality of the hindgut epithelial cells and the LR-direction of hindgut rotation. Our logistic model, drawn from several Drosophila genotypes, significantly explained the correlation between the enantiomorphic (sinistral or dextral) state of chiral cells and the LR-directionality of hindgut rotation—even in individual live mutant embryos with stochastically determined cell chirality and randomized hindgut rotation, suggesting that the mechanism by which cell chirality forms is irrelevant to the direction of hindgut rotation. Thus, our analysis showed that cell chirality, which forms before hindgut rotation, is both sufficient and required for the subsequent rotation, validating the hypothesis that cell chirality causally defines the LR-directionality of hindgut rotation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology)
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21 pages, 3793 KiB  
Article
Non-Random Sister Chromatid Segregation in Human Tissue Stem Cells
by Krishnanchali Panchalingam, Laura Jacox, Benjamin D. Cappiello and James L. Sherley
Symmetry 2020, 12(11), 1868; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12111868 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2567
Abstract
The loss of genetic fidelity in tissue stem cells is considered a significant cause of human aging and carcinogenesis. Many cellular mechanisms are well accepted for limiting mutations caused by replication errors and DNA damage. However, one mechanism, non-random sister chromatid segregation, remains [...] Read more.
The loss of genetic fidelity in tissue stem cells is considered a significant cause of human aging and carcinogenesis. Many cellular mechanisms are well accepted for limiting mutations caused by replication errors and DNA damage. However, one mechanism, non-random sister chromatid segregation, remains controversial. This atypical pattern of chromosome segregation is restricted to asymmetrically self-renewing cells. Though first confirmed in murine cells, non-random segregation was originally proposed by Cairns as an important genetic fidelity mechanism in human tissues. We investigated human hepatic stem cells expanded by suppression of asymmetric cell kinetics (SACK) for evidence of non-random sister chromatid segregation. Cell kinetics and time-lapse microscopy analyses established that an ex vivo expanded human hepatic stem cell strain possessed SACK agent-suppressible asymmetric cell kinetics. Complementary DNA strand-labeling experiments revealed that cells in hepatic stem cell cultures segregated sister chromatids non-randomly. The number of cells cosegregating sister chromatids with the oldest “immortal DNA strands” was greater under conditions that increased asymmetric self-renewal kinetics. Detection of this mechanism in a human tissue stem cell strain increases support for Cairns’ proposal that non-random sister chromatid segregation operates in human tissue stem cells to limit carcinogenesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology)
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Review

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7 pages, 1934 KiB  
Review
Zebrafish Melanophores Suggest Novel Functions of Cell Chirality in Tissue Formation
by Hiroaki Yamanaka and Shigeru Kondo
Symmetry 2021, 13(1), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13010130 - 13 Jan 2021
Viewed by 2284
Abstract
Several types of cells show left–right asymmetric behavior, unidirectional rotation, or spiral movements. For example, neutrophil-like differentiated HL60 (dHL60) cells show leftward bias in response to chemoattractant. Neurons extend neurites, creating a clockwise spiral. Platelet cells shows unidirectional spiral arrangements of actin fibers. [...] Read more.
Several types of cells show left–right asymmetric behavior, unidirectional rotation, or spiral movements. For example, neutrophil-like differentiated HL60 (dHL60) cells show leftward bias in response to chemoattractant. Neurons extend neurites, creating a clockwise spiral. Platelet cells shows unidirectional spiral arrangements of actin fibers. In the microfabricated culture environment, groups of C2C12 cells (mouse myoblast cell line) were autonomously aligned in a counter-clockwise spiral pattern, and isolated C2C12 cells showed unidirectional spiral pattern of the actin skeleton. This biased directionality suggested that these cells have inherent cell chirality. In addition to these cells, we recently found that melanophores of zebrafish also have an intrinsic cellular chirality that was shown by their counter-clockwise self-rotation. Although this cell chirality is obvious, the function of the cell chirality is still unclear. In this review, we compare the cell chirality of melanophores of zebrafish with other cell chirality and consider the function of cell chirality in morphogenesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology)
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10 pages, 4066 KiB  
Review
Mechanistic Insights into Plant Chiral Growth
by Masayoshi Nakamura and Takashi Hashimoto
Symmetry 2020, 12(12), 2056; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12122056 - 11 Dec 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3881
Abstract
The latent left–right asymmetry (chirality) of vascular plants is best witnessed as a helical elongation of cylindrical organs in climbing plants. Interestingly, helical handedness is usually fixed in given species, suggesting genetic control of chirality. Arabidopsis thaliana, a small mustard plant, normally [...] Read more.
The latent left–right asymmetry (chirality) of vascular plants is best witnessed as a helical elongation of cylindrical organs in climbing plants. Interestingly, helical handedness is usually fixed in given species, suggesting genetic control of chirality. Arabidopsis thaliana, a small mustard plant, normally does not twist but can be mutated to exhibit helical growth in elongating organs. Genetic, molecular and cell biological analyses of these twisting mutants are providing mechanistic insights into the left–right handedness as well as how potential organ skewing is suppressed in most plants. Growth direction of elongating plant cells is determined by alignment of cellulose microfibrils in cell walls, which is guided by cortical microtubules localized just beneath the plasma membrane. Mutations in tubulins and regulators of microtubule assembly or organization give rise to helical arrangements of cortical microtubule arrays in Arabidopsis cells and cause helical growth of fixed handedness in axial organs such as roots and stems. Whether tubulins are assembled into a microtubule composed of straight or tilted protofilaments might determine straight or twisting growth. Mechanistic understanding of helical plant growth will provide a paradigm for connecting protein filament structure to cellular organization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Left-Right Asymmetry in Cell Biology)
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