Opposing Wnt Pathways Orient Cell Polarity during Organogenesis
Abstract
The orientation of asymmetric cell division contributes to the organization of cells within a tissue or organ. For example, mirror-image symmetry of the C. elegans vulva is achieved by the opposite division orientation of the vulval precursor cells (VPCs) flanking the axis of symmetry. We characterized the molecular mechanisms contributing to this division pattern. Wnts MOM-2 and LIN-44 are expressed at the axis of symmetry and orient the VPCs toward the center. These Wnts act via Fz/LIN-17 and Ryk/LIN-18, which control β-catenin localization and activate gene transcription. In addition, VPCs on both sides of the axis of symmetry possess a uniform underlying "ground" polarity, established by the instructive activity of Wnt/EGL-20. EGL-20 establishes ground polarity via a novel type of signaling involving the Ror receptor tyrosine kinase CAM-1 and the planar cell polarity component Van Gogh/VANG-1. Thus, tissue polarity is determined by the integration of multiple Wnt pathways.
Additional Information
© 2008 Elsevier Inc. Received 30 October 2007, Revised 23 April 2008, Accepted 10 June 2008, Available online 21 August 2008. We thank Gladys Medina, Barbara Perry, and Shahla Gharib for technical assistance, members of our lab for helpful discussions, Andrea Choe for artistic input, and Marianne Bronner-Fraser, Scott Fraser, Cheryl Van Buskirk, Mihoko Kato, Elissa Hallem, and Adeline Seah for critically reading the manuscript. Many strains used in this study were provided by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources. We are grateful to the late Peter Snow for his valuable assistance in making our CAM-1 antibody. P.W.S. is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, who supported this work, and J.L.G. was supported by the Moore Foundation Fellowship for graduate study toward the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology at the California Institute of Technology.Attached Files
Accepted Version - nihms67892.pdf
Supplemental Material - 1-s2.0-S0092867408007782-mmc1.pdf
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Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC2603076
- Eprint ID
- 95468
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20190514-082856223
- NIH
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Created
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2019-05-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field