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Cell biology

Polarity bites

Nature volume 442, pages 519–520 (2006)Cite this article

Cells often need to have polarity to function — cells lining the gut, for instance, secrete digestive enzymes only from their intestinal side. A protein called Bitesize is pivotal in determining which way is up.

Epithelial cells, such as those that make up the skin and the lining of the intestine, all share fundamental characteristics — the ability to stick tightly to one another and an asym-metric organization of the proteins and lipids that constitute the cell membrane (a property known as apical/basal polarity). These properties are essential for the epithelia to form protective barriers and to regulate cell proliferation and specialization. Disruption of either characteristic can have catastrophic effects — the loss of intercellular adhesion and apical/basal polarity allows cancer cells to spread, for instance. Both adhesion and polarity rely on a highly organized internal structural network called the cytoskeleton. On page 580 of this issue, Pilot et al.1 shed light on how epithelial cells organize the cytoskeleton, and thereby regulate both assembly of specialized adhesive structures and apical/basal polarity.

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Figure 1: Assembling adherens junctions between epithelial cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, 920 East 58th Street

    Richard Fehon

  2. University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA

    Richard Fehon

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  1. Richard Fehon
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Fehon, R. Polarity bites. Nature 442, 519–520 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05036

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