Title | Ascidian prickle regulates both mediolateral and anterior-posterior cell polarity of notochord cells. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2005 |
Authors | Jiang D, Munro EM, Smith WC |
Journal | Curr Biol |
Volume | 15 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 79-85 |
Date Published | 2005 Jan 11 |
ISSN | 0960-9822 |
Keywords | Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing, Animals, Body Patterning, California, Cell Polarity, DNA Primers, DNA-Binding Proteins, Embryo, Nonmammalian, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Histocytochemistry, In Situ Hybridization, Microscopy, Confocal, Morphogenesis, Mutation, Notochord, Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques, Phenotype, Phosphoproteins, Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Somites, Urochordata, Video Recording |
Abstract | The ascidian notochord follows a morphogenetic program that includes convergent extension (C/E), followed by anterior-posterior (A/P) elongation [1-4]. As described here, developing notochord cells show polarity first in the mediolateral (M/L) axis during C/E, and subsequently in the A/P axis during elongation. Previous embryological studies [3] have shown that contact with neighboring tissues is essential for directing M/L polarity of ascidian notochord cells. During C/E, the planar cell polarity (PCP) gene products prickle (pk) and dishevelled (dsh) show M/L polarization. pk and dsh colocalize at the notochord cell membranes, with the exception of those in contact with neighboring muscle cells. In the mutant aimless (aim), which carries a deletion in pk, notochord morphogenesis is disrupted, and cell polarization is lost. After C/E, there is a dynamic relocalization of PCP proteins in the notochord cells with dsh localized to the lateral edges of the membrane, and pk and strabismus (stbm) at the anterior edges. An A/P polarity is present in the extending notochord cells and is evident by the position of the nuclei, which in normal embryos are invariably found at the posterior edge of each cell. In the aim mutant, all appearances of A/P polarity in the notochord are lost. |
Alternate Journal | Curr. Biol. |
PubMed ID | 15700379 |
Grant List | HD 38701 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States |