| Theme |
The frontier of space medicine |
| Title |
Mechanism of 3D organogenesis against gravity |
| Author |
Yoichi Asaoka |
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine |
| Author |
Makoto Furutani-Seiki |
Department of Systems Biochemistry in Pathology and Regeneration, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
The cells in our body are constantly exposed to external physical forces including gravity, but the complex 3D organ structure never collapses. About a century ago, the British mathematical biologist D'Arcy Thompson predicted that the morphological features of organisms on the earth greatly reflect the influence of gravity on them. However, no model animal directly demonstrating the morphogenetic mechanism against gravity was available so far, and the mechanism has not yet been delineated. In this review, we introduce our recent finding that the transcriptional cofactor YAP plays an important role in 3D organ formation and maintenance against gravity, by controlling the cellular tension. |