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Planar cell polarity: one or two pathways?

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 8, pages 555–563 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

In multicellular organisms, cells are polarized in the plane of the epithelial sheet, revealed in some cell types by oriented hairs or cilia. Many of the underlying genes have been identified in Drosophila melanogaster and are conserved in vertebrates. Here we dissect the logic of planar cell polarity (PCP). We review studies of genetic mosaics in adult flies — marked cells of different genotypes help us to understand how polarizing information is generated and how it passes from one cell to another. We argue that the prevailing opinion that planar polarity depends on a single genetic pathway is wrong and conclude that there are (at least) two independently acting processes. This conclusion has major consequences for the PCP field.

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Figure 1: Planar cell polarity in the Drosophila melanogaster pleura.
Figure 2: The functional assay.
Figure 3: A repolarizing clone in a stan− fly.
Figure 4: Cuticle from the dorsal abdomen of Drosophila melanogaster.
Figure 5: The localization of planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins in clones in the wing.
Figure 6: Two Alternative models of planar cell polarity (PCP).

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, UK, for support and D. Strutt for advice and encouragement. G.S. is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peter A. Lawrence is at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK, and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.,

    Peter A. Lawrence

  2. Gary Struhl is at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 701 West 168th Street, New York, New York 10032, USA.,

    Gary Struhl

  3. José Casal is at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge.,

    José Casal

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  1. Peter A. Lawrence
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Correspondence to Peter A. Lawrence.

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Glossary

Clones

Patches of clonally derived cells in an organism that have been engineered to be genetically distinct from surrounding cells (for example, a homozygous mutant clone in a heterozygous background).

Convergent extension

The process by which a sheet of cells changes shape by extending in one direction and narrowing — converging — in a direction at right angles to the extension.

Ommatidia

The elements of the compound eye of insects (in Drosophila melanogaster, the eye is formed from 800 ommatidia), each of which is an independent visual unit that contains eight photoreceptor cells, surrounded by four cone cells that secrete the lens, and seven pigment cells.

Stereocilium

A large, rigid, actin-filled microvillus on the apical surface of hair cells in the inner ear.

Tergites

Cuticular plates, one per segment, that bear oriented hairs and bristles that make up most of the dorsal abdomen of Drosophila melanogaster and other insects.

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Lawrence, P., Struhl, G. & Casal, J. Planar cell polarity: one or two pathways?. Nat Rev Genet 8, 555–563 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2125

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