LEFTY1+LEFTY2 Recombinant Rabbit Monoclonal Antibody [JE38-88]

Function

Lefty (left-right determination factors) are a class of proteins that are closely related members of the TGF-beta superfamily of growth factors. Lefty-1 is a regulatory gene that plays a vital role in the determination of the left-right internal asymmetry observed in mammals. The lefty-1 protein works in tandem with two other genes: lefty-2 and nodal. As the primitive node migrates towards the cranial end of the embryo during development, its cilia preferentially sling lefty-2 and nodal towards the left side of the embryo. These two genes encode for “leftness”, and initiate the formation of the heart, spleen, and other internal organs that are found on the left side in a typical human being. Lefty-1 protein can be viewed as a barrier between the left and right portions of the embryo that prevents the diffusion of lefty-2 and nodal to the right side. This ensures that the left-determining molecules are confined to their correct developmental domain. A variety of defects were observed in mice that had lefty-1 deleted, including left pulmonary isomerism, situs inversus, and atrial septal defect. The high incidence of left pulmonary isomerism in the knockout mice indicates that lefty-1 itself is not involved in encoding for leftness, but simply ensures the correct compartmentation of the left-determining molecules. In the absence of the lefty-1 barrier, lefty-2 and nodal are free to diffuse to the right side and initiate the development of a left lung that was meant to be limited to the left side of the thoracic cavity.

Background References

1. Khalkhali-Ellis Z et al. Lefty Glycoproteins in Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Extracellular Delivery Route and Posttranslational Modification in Differentiation. Stem Cells Dev. 2016 Nov

2. Yang YR et al. LEFTY2 alleviates hepatic stellate cell activation and liver fibrosis by regulating the TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway. Mol Immunol. 2020 Oct

Subcellular Location

Secreted.

UNIPROT

SwissProt: O75610 Human

SwissProt: O00292 Human

SwissProt: Q64280 Mouse

SwissProt: P57785 Mouse

SwissProt: D4A670 Rat

Entrez Gene: 289316 Rat

Synonyms