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Establishing cell polarity in development

Nature Cell Biology volume 4, pages E39–E44 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Polarity is a common feature of many different cell types, including the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, the Drosophila oocyte and mammalian epithelial cells. The initial establishment of cell polarity depends on asymmetric cues that lead to reorganization of the cytoskeleton and polarized localization of several cortical proteins that act downstream of the polarization cues. The past year revealed that homologs of the C. elegans par (partitioning defective) genes are also essential for establishing polarity in Drosophila and vertebrate cells. There is growing evidence that the proteins encoded by these genes interact with key regulators of both the actin and the microtubule cytoskeletons.

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Figure 1: Cell polarity in the C. elegans zygote.
Figure 2: Development of female germline cysts in Drosophila.
Figure 3: Polarity in mammalian epithelial cells.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Christoph Segbert and Soya Kim for confocal images of C. elegans zygotes and Drosophila ovaries, respectively. I would also like to thank Arno Müller, Olaf Bossinger, Kevin Johnson, Christoph Segbert and Eli Knust for critical reading of the manuscript. Work in my laboratory is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

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    Andreas Wodarz

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Wodarz, A. Establishing cell polarity in development. Nat Cell Biol 4, E39–E44 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0202-e39

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