Planar Cell Polarity Signaling: the Developing Cell's Compass

Overview

Journal Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol

Specialties Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2010 Jan 13

PMID 20066108

Citations 135

Authors

Eszter K Vladar

Dragana Antic

Jeffrey D Axelrod

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cells of many tissues acquire cellular asymmetry to execute their physiologic functions. The planar cell polarity system, first characterized in Drosophila, is important for many of these events. Studies in Drosophila suggest that an upstream system breaks cellular symmetry by converting tissue gradients to subcellular asymmetry, whereas a downstream system amplifies subcellular asymmetry and communicates polarity between cells. In this review, we discuss apparent similarities and differences in the mechanism that controls PCP as it has been adapted to a broad variety of morphological cellular asymmetries in various organisms.

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