Publications by authors named "Yasuko Asai"
Article Synopsis
- Outer dynein arms (ODAs) are crucial multiprotein complexes that generate the force necessary for ciliary and flagellar movement; defects in ODAs lead to primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a disorder causing recurrent infections and organ asymmetry.
- Research identified recessive mutations in the TTC25 gene in three people from two families with PCD, and experiments using CRISPR/Cas9 on mice showed related defects, including immotile nodal cilia and missing leftward flow.
- Advanced imaging techniques demonstrated the absence of ODAs and related proteins in both affected mice and humans, highlighting TTC25's role as a new component of the ODA docking complex (ODA-DC).
Axonemal dynein complexes are preassembled in the cytoplasm before their transport to cilia, but the mechanism of this process remains unclear. We now show that mice lacking Pih1d3, a PIH1 domain-containing protein, develop normally but manifest male sterility. Pih1d3(-/-) sperm were immotile and fragile, with the axoneme of the flagellum lacking outer dynein arms (ODAs) and inner dynein arms (IDAs) and showing a disturbed 9+2 microtubule organization.
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- The study investigates how fluid flow around the node in mouse embryos influences the left-right asymmetry of a gene called Cerl2.
- It reveals that the asymmetry is due to the selective decay of Cerl2 mRNA on the left side, driven by the leftward flow and specific regulatory mechanisms.
- Additionally, feedback loops involving Wnt proteins and Cerl2 create a bistable switch, enhancing the effect of the fluid flow and stabilizing the left-right difference in gene expression.
Unidirectional fluid flow plays an essential role in the breaking of left-right (L-R) symmetry in mouse embryos, but it has remained unclear how the flow is sensed by the embryo. We report that the Ca(2+) channel Polycystin-2 (Pkd2) is required specifically in the perinodal crown cells for sensing the nodal flow. Examination of mutant forms of Pkd2 shows that the ciliary localization of Pkd2 is essential for correct L-R patterning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disruptor, is widely used in the production of plastics and resins. Human perinatal exposure to this chemical has been proposed to be a potential risk to public health. Animal studies indicate that postnatal exposure to BPA may affect neocortex development in embryos by accelerated neurogenesis and causing neuronal migration defects.
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