The ancestral role of nodal signalling in breaking L/R symmetry in the vertebrate forebrain

Ronan Lagadec, Laurent Laguerre, Arnaud Menuet, Anis Amara, Claire Rocancourt, Pierre Péricard, Benoît G. Godard, Maria Celina Rodicio, Isabel Rodriguez-Moldes, Hélène Mayeur, Quentin Rougemont, Sylvie Mazan () and Agnès Boutet ()
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Ronan Lagadec: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Laurent Laguerre: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Arnaud Menuet: UMR7355, CNRS, Experimental and Molecular Immunology and Neurogenetics, University of Orleans
Anis Amara: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Claire Rocancourt: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Pierre Péricard: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, ABiMS
Benoît G. Godard: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Maria Celina Rodicio: University of Santiago de Compostela
Isabel Rodriguez-Moldes: University of Santiago de Compostela
Hélène Mayeur: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Quentin Rougemont: INRA, Agrocampus Ouest, UMR 985 Ecologie et Santé des Ecosystèmes
Sylvie Mazan: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group
Agnès Boutet: CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, FR2424, Development and Evolution of Vertebrates Group

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Left-right asymmetries in the epithalamic region of the brain are widespread across vertebrates, but their magnitude and laterality varies among species. Whether these differences reflect independent origins of forebrain asymmetries or taxa-specific diversifications of an ancient vertebrate feature remains unknown. Here we show that the catshark Scyliorhinus canicula and the lampreys Petromyzon marinus and Lampetra planeri exhibit conserved molecular asymmetries between the left and right developing habenulae. Long-term pharmacological treatments in these species show that nodal signalling is essential to their generation, rather than their directionality as in teleosts. Moreover, in contrast to zebrafish, habenular left-right differences are observed in the absence of overt asymmetry of the adjacent pineal field. These data support an ancient origin of epithalamic asymmetry, and suggest that a nodal-dependent asymmetry programme operated in the forebrain of ancestral vertebrates before evolving into a variable trait in bony fish.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7686

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