How embryos decide left from right during early organ formation

Susana Lopes

FCiências.ID – Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências, Portugal

During early development, embryos must establish a left-right body axis so that organs such as the heart and the liver form in the correct position. When this process fails, internal organs are misplaced and children may be born with serious conditions. Scientists know that a temporary, fluid-filled embryonic structure plays a key role, but how fluid movement is turned into the biological instructions that establish body pattern remains unknown. This project aims to understand how tiny moving structures generate fluid flow and how embryonic cells sense this fluid movement to trigger left-right positioning.

A team including experts in developmental biology, imaging and fluid modelling will study how physical forces and early genetic responses guide the correct positioning of organs. Specifically, they will study how movement, ion balance and cell signalling influence this process.

The results could clarify why organs become misplaced and shed light on the mechanisms behind congenital heart disorders caused by abnormal left-right patterning. This knowledge would improve diagnosis and contribute to developing future strategies for treating developmental conditions linked to organ misplacement.

Ions and cilia motility regulation at the base of heart sidedness

€315,616.95