Our paper is out! This study was lead by Lindsay Rathbun with many major contributions from past and current lab members and our collaborators Lisa Manning (SU) and Jeffrey Amack (SUNY Upstate). Its a really cool study demonstrating that the final step in cell division, cytokinesis and abscission, is needed for the lumen to form in the zebrafish left-right organizer. This transient tissue goes from a series of mesenchymal like migratory cells that divide and transition into polarized epithelial cells. Our team proposes a model that division assists in this process and the cytokinetic bridge, which can stay around for up to an hour, helps hold the cells in a transient rosette structure before they can initiate lumen formation. Check the paper out here at Nature Communications.
In cyan is a dividing cell interconnected by a cytokinetic bridge that is about to undergo abscission. Once the bridge abscises you can see the KV lumen open up! Magenta is labeling KV cells plasma membrane.