Mirror image biomolecule helps marine sea squirts lose their tails

Researchers have found that D-serine, the structural mirror image of L-serine, regulates tissue migration in the marine organism Ciona during its juvenile-to-adult transformation. D-serine binds to NMDAR, leading to the formation and release of a vesicle that assists in tail regression in Ciona. This finding provides the first description of a biological function of a D-amino acid in a non-mammal chordate, elucidating vesicle release mechanisms in organisms other than mammals.

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