Axis

Formation
 Body axes
 anteroposterior axis
 dorsoventral axis
 left-right axis
 proximodistal axis
 apical-basal axis
 Planes of
symmetry
 sagittal
 divides body into L

&R
 transverse

 cuts body at right

 frontal or coronal
parallel to long axis
of body (dorsal and
ventral)
cranial/ dorsal caudal/
anterior posterior

ventral
 superior

dorsal/
posterior
ventral/
anterior

inferior
How are axes
formed?
 aboral

oral
 Oral-aboral axis
 respiratory

asymmetry (redox
gradient)
density and/or
activity of
mitochondria in egg
Coffman JA, McCarthy JJ, Dickey-Sims C, Robertson AJ. 2004. Oral-aboral axis
specification in the sea urchin embryo II. Mitochondrial distribution and redox
state contribute to establishing polarity in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.
Dev Biol. 273(1):160-71.

 most oxidizing part

tends to develop as
the oral side
 hypoxic conditions

suppress nodal
expression
 Antero-posterior
axis
 morphogenetic

gradients (maternal
effect genes)
 Bicoid, Hunchback,

Nanos and Caudal


originates at
Signaling centers:
• Anterior -> head and thorax development
• Posterior -> abdomen
• Terminal -> acron and telson
development
 Dorso-ventral axis
 morphogenetic

gradient (over a field of

cells through cell-cell
signals)
 translocation of Dorsal

from cytoplasm to
 activation of snail
and twist

maternal effect
gene proteins make
certain that Dorsal
gets into nucleus of
oocyte nucleus
induces overlying
follicle cells ->
dorsalization
 gurken gene
 Antero-posterior
axis
 position of sperm

pronucelus in the
oocyte
 migration of P-

granules that specify

the PGCs
 Dorso-ventral axis
 equatorial division of

AB cell
 cells slide -> AB &
a
ABp
AB lies on top of EMS
p

Me and the
others!
 symmetry-breaking
process
establishes critical
embryonic signaling
center
 Nieuwkoop center
 created by cortical

rotation during
fertilization
 opposite the site of

sperm entry
 fish and amphibians
 Glycogen synthase kinase

(A) Disheveled (Dsh) associates with a particular set of

proteins at the vegetal pole of the unfertilized egg. (B) Upon
fertilization, these protein vesicles are translocated dorsally
along subcortical microtubule tracks. (C) Disheveled is then
released from its vesicles and is distributed in the future
dorsal third of the 1-cell embryo. (D) Disheveled binds to
and blocks the action of GSK-3, thereby preventing the
degradation of b-catenin on the dorsal side of the embryo.
(E) The nuclei of the blastomeres in the dorsal region of the
embryo receive b-catenin, while the nuclei of those in the
Transforming growth factor

For organizer's activities

 Organizer
 region of embryo that

directs the
development of
surrounding tissues by
acting as source of
inductive signals
 Roles of organizer
 initiates cell

movements of
grastrulation
 forms anterior

endoderm and dorsal

mesoderm
 dorsalizes adjacent
ventral/lateral
mesoderm
 dorsalizes the

overlying ectoderm
into neural ectoderm
confers
anteroposterior
positional information
on mesoderm and
endoderm
 controlling pattern
asymmetric signaling
and gene expression
in the organizer plays
important role in L-R
asymmetry
forms the
chodoneural hinge
(caudal eminence)
and lays down the
notochord and neural
tube of the tail
 Xenopus Nodal-
related-3
Ventralizing
factor
BMP4 may elicit the
expression of different genes
in a concentration-dependent
fashion; in that way, the
mesoderm could be patterned.
BMP4 is expressed
throughout the marginal zone
(prospective mesoderm)
except in the dorsal domain.
Noggin and Chordin are
expressed in the dorsal
domain. These proteins bind
to BMP4 and prevent it from
reaching the mesodermal
cells. In the regions of noggin
and chordin expression,
BMP4 is totally prevented
from binding, and these
tissues become notochord
(organizer) tissue. Slightly
farther away from the
organizer, myf5, a marker for
the dorsolateral muscles, is
activated. As more and more
BMP4 molecules are allowed
to bind to the cells, Xvent2
(ventrolateral) and Xvent1
(ventral) genes become
expressed.
 What is the
amphibians' major
organizer?
 L-R axis
specification
 Xnr-1 => left side

 requires Vg 1 to be

expressed
 affects pitx2

 instructs the gut and

heart to fold on the L

 Posterior marginal
zone
arises in the
blastoderm
specified by the
displacement of
cytoplasmic
determinants during
Specification of the chick anterior-posterior axis by gravity. Rotation in the shell gland (A) results in
the lighter components of the yolk pushing up one side of the blastoderm (B). That more elevated
region becomes the posterior of the embryo (C).
 the only region in
embryo secreting Vg1
 similar to Nieuwkoop

center
 initiates the Hensen's

node
•Gastrulation
•chordamesoderm
•second embryonic axis
dorso-ventral axis is
specified by difference
in pH
subgerminal cavity =
6.5, + membrane
potential
 L-R axis regulated by:
 Nodal (paracrine
factor)
 Pitx2 (transcription

factor)
 begins with
 Mammalian signalling
centers
 anterior visceral
mesoderm
 node = organizer
 Hox code
 hypothesis
A-P polarity is
specified by the
expression of Hox
genes
homologues of
homeotic genes in
dorso-ventral axis is
defined by the
embryonic -aembryonic
axis of the blastocyst
 ICM w/ trophoblast =

dorsal (aembryonic)
Relationship between the animal-vegetal axis of the egg and the
embryonic-abembryonic axis of the blastocyst. The polar body marks the
animal pole of the embryo. The dorsal-ventral axis of the embryo appears
to form at right angles to the animal-vegetal axis of the egg.
 L-R axis regulated by:
situs inversus
viscerum - iv (organ
level)
 inversion of