Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38307837›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

R-Spondin 2 governs Xenopus left-right body axis formation by establishing an FGF signaling gradient.

Hyeyoon Lee, Celine Marie Camuto, Christof Niehrs

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Science advances · 2026
    Article
  3. An Opto-Bio-Hydrodynamic Platform for Instructing Cardiac Left-Right Asymmetry Development.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Left-right symmetry breaking: learning from the chicken.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Hyeyoon LeeDivision of Molecular Embryology, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Celine Marie CamutoDivision of Molecular Embryology, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Christof NiehrsDivision of Molecular Embryology, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. niehrs@dkfz-heidelberg.de.ORCID 0000-0002-9561-9302
German Cancer Research Center · DE

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) SFB 1324-B01
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Establishment of the left-right (LR, sinistral, dextral) body axis in many vertebrate embryos relies on cilia-driven leftward fluid flow within an LR organizer (LRO). A cardinal question is how leftward flow triggers symmetry breakage. The chemosensation model posits that ciliary flow enriches a signaling molecule on the left side of the LRO that promotes sinistral cell fate. However, the nature of this sinistralizing signal has remained elusive. In the Xenopus LRO, we identified the stem cell growth factor R-Spondin 2 (Rspo2) as a symmetrically expressed, sinistralizing signal. As predicted for a flow-mediated signal, Rspo2 operates downstream of leftward flow but upstream of the asymmetrically expressed gene dand5. Unexpectedly, in LR patterning, Rspo2 acts as an FGF receptor antagonist: Rspo2 via its TSP1 domain binds Fgfr4 and promotes its membrane clearance by Znrf3-mediated endocytosis. Concordantly, we find that at flow-stage, FGF signaling is dextralizing and forms a gradient across the LRO, high on the dextral- and low on the sinistral side. Rspo2 gain- and loss-of function equalize this FGF signaling gradient and sinistralize and dextralize development, respectively. We propose that leftward flow of Rspo2 produces an FGF signaling gradient that governs LR-symmetry breakage.

Indexed as

Body PatterningIntercellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsSignal TransductionXenopus ProteinsAnimalsCiliaXenopus laevisIntercellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsRspo2 protein, XenopusXenopus Proteins

Identifiers

PMID38307837
PMCPMC10837206
OpenAlexW4391466888

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.