2011/06/27 by Leo Q. Wan, Kacey Ronaldson, Miri Park +4 · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience #Planarian Biology and Electrostimulation #Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation #Micropatterning #Multicellular organism #Asymmetry #Biology #Phenotype #Cell #Cell biology #Cell type #Actin #Cytoskeleton #Biophysics #Genetics #Nanotechnology #Materials science #Gene #Physics
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.1103834108
openalex publication_date 2011/06/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Left-right (LR) asymmetry (handedness, chirality) is a well-conserved biological property of critical importance to normal development. Changes in orientation of the LR axis due to genetic or environmental factors can lead to malformations and disease. While the LR asymmetry of organs and whole organisms has been extensively studied, little is known about the LR asymmetry at cellular and multicellular levels. Here we show that the cultivation of cell populations on micropatterns with defined boundaries reveals intrinsic cell chirality that can be readily determined by image analysis of cell alignment and directional motion. By patterning 11 different types of cells on ring-shaped micropatterns of various sizes, we found that each cell type exhibited definite LR asymmetry (p value down to 10(-185)) that was different between normal and cancer cells of the same type, and not dependent on surface chemistry, protein coating, or the orientation of the gravitational field. Interestingly, drugs interfering with actin but not microtubule function reversed the LR asymmetry in some cell types. Our results show that micropatterned cell populations exhibit phenotype-specific LR asymmetry that is dependent on the functionality of the actin cytoskeleton. We propose that micropatterning could potentially be used as an effective in vitro tool to study the initiation of LR asymmetry in cell populations, to diagnose disease, and to study factors involved with birth defects in laterality.