Unknown

Dataset Information

0

A one-dimensional model of PCP signaling: polarized cell behavior in the notochord of the ascidian Ciona.


ABSTRACT: Despite its importance in development and physiology the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway remains one of the most enigmatic signaling mechanisms. The notochord of the ascidian Ciona provides a unique model for investigating the PCP pathway. Interestingly, the notochord appears to be the only embryonic structure in Ciona activating the PCP pathway. Moreover, the Ciona notochord as a single-file array of forty polarized cells is a uniquely tractable system for the study of polarization dynamics and the transmission of the PCP pathway. Here, we test models for propagation of a polarizing signal, interrogating temporal, spatial and signaling requirements. A simple cell-cell relay cascading through the entire length of the notochord is not supported; instead a more complex mechanism is revealed, with interactions influencing polarity between neighboring cells, but not distant ones. Mechanisms coordinating notochord-wide polarity remain elusive, but appear to entrain general (i.e., global) polarity even while local interactions remain important. However, this global polarizer does not appear to act as a localized, spatially-restricted determinant. Coordination of polarity along the long axis of the notochord requires the PCP pathway, a role we demonstrate is temporally distinct from this pathway's earlier role in convergent extension and intercalation. We also reveal polarity in the notochord to be dynamic: a cell's polarity state can be changed and then restored, underscoring the Ciona notochord's amenability for in vivo studies of PCP.

SUBMITTER: Kourakis MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4190077 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

A one-dimensional model of PCP signaling: polarized cell behavior in the notochord of the ascidian Ciona.

Kourakis Matthew J MJ   Reeves Wendy W   Newman-Smith Erin E   Maury Benoit B   Abdul-Wajid Sarah S   Smith William C WC  

Developmental biology 20140828 1


Despite its importance in development and physiology the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway remains one of the most enigmatic signaling mechanisms. The notochord of the ascidian Ciona provides a unique model for investigating the PCP pathway. Interestingly, the notochord appears to be the only embryonic structure in Ciona activating the PCP pathway. Moreover, the Ciona notochord as a single-file array of forty polarized cells is a uniquely tractable system for the study of polarization dynamics  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC3066068 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3034685 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2761113 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC1934933 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7661463 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7002689 | biostudies-literature
2010-07-20 | GSE22995 | GEO
| S-EPMC2841060 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5006582 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5612257 | biostudies-literature