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CELL POLARITY

Apical poles without neighbouring cells

Nature Materials volume 19, pages 935–937 (2020)Cite this article

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Functional single-cell liver hemi-canaliculi have been generated in a synthetic microenvironment using a reductionist approach. It is shown that the interaction between the extracellular matrix and static cadherin is sufficient to develop an apicobasal polarity independently of the contact with neighbouring cells.

The establishment of different plasma membrane domains within an epithelial cell during morphogenesis determines the apicobasal axis of polarity, which is crucial for the proper organization and functioning of epithelial cells. In addition, this apicobasal axis of polarity depends on the organization and execution of the epithelial polarity programme, which comprises a set of polarity proteins, membrane lipids, modulators of the protein trafficking, and the actomyosin and microtubule cytoskeletons1. However, a fundamental question in epithelial morphogenesis is what external cues are essential to generate this specific asymmetry and develop apicobasal polarity. Furthermore, it is critical to determine whether single cells within a tissue can polarize, as proposed before2. It has been broadly studied how the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition and mechanical properties are regulators of epithelial behaviour, which is finally transduced in the control of morphogenesis and differentiation3,4. To provide context for this issue, it is essential to highlight the consequences of polarity development, particularly on its association with cell fate control. In this scenario, there is a remarkable difference between cell autonomy and collective development during the establishment of the polarity of progenitor cells to mature cells in the early embryo5. Studies carried out in a C. elegans embryo demonstrated that the development of cell polarity is mostly cell-autonomous since the key event in this process is the negative regulation of actomyosin contractility6. In the pre-implantation mouse embryo, the apicobasal axis is also determined without the presence of ECM interactions5.

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Fig. 1: The development of hepatocyte polarity during the stages of hemi-lumen formation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), Tissue and Organ Homeostasis Program, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Madrid, Spain

    Covadonga Díaz-Díaz & Fernando Martín-Belmonte

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  1. Covadonga Díaz-Díaz
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  2. Fernando Martín-Belmonte
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Correspondence to Fernando Martín-Belmonte.

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Díaz-Díaz, C., Martín-Belmonte, F. Apical poles without neighbouring cells. Nat. Mater. 19, 935–937 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0766-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0766-9

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