Mechanochemical symmetry breaking during morphogenesis of lateral-line sensory organs

Actively regulated symmetry breaking, which is ubiquitous in biological cells, underlies phenomena such as directed cellular movement and morphological polarization. Here we investigate how an organ-level polarity pattern emerges through symmetry breaking at the cellular level during the formation of a mechanosensory organ. Combining theory, genetic perturbations, and in vivo imaging, we study the development and regeneration of the fluid-motion sensors in the zebrafish’s lateral line. We find that two interacting symmetry-breaking events — one mediated by biochemical signaling and the other by cellular mechanics — give rise to precise rotations of cell pairs, which produce a mirror-symmetric polarity pattern in the receptor organ.