1. Cell Biology
  2. Developmental Biology

Microtubules provide directional information for core PCP function

  1. Maja Matis  Is a corresponding author
  2. David A Russler-Germain
  3. Qie Hu
  4. Claire J Tomlin
  5. Jeffrey D Axelrod
  1. University of Münster, Germany
  2. Washington University School of Medicine, United States
  3. University of California, Berkeley, United States
  4. Stanford University School of Medicine, United States
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02893
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  1. Maja Matis
  2. David A Russler-Germain
  3. Qie Hu
  4. Claire J Tomlin
  5. Jeffrey D Axelrod
(2014)
Microtubules provide directional information for core PCP function
eLife 3:e02893.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02893
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Abstract

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling controls the polarization of cells within the plane of an epithelium. Two molecular modules composed of Fat(Ft)/Dachsous(Ds)/Four-jointed(Fj) and a 'PCP-core' including Frizzled(Fz) and Dishevelled(Dsh)) contribute to polarization of individual cells. How polarity is globally coordinated with tissue axes is unresolved. Consistent with previous results, we find that the Ft/Ds/Fj-module has an effect on a MT-cytoskeleton. Here, we provide evidence for the model that the Ft/Ds/Fj-module provides directional information to the core-module through this MT organizing function. We show Ft/Ds/Fj-dependent initial polarization of the apical MT-cytoskeleton prior to global alignment of the core-module, reveal that the anchoring of apical non-centrosomal MTs at apical junctions is polarized, observe that directional trafficking of vesicles containing Dsh depends on Ft, and demonstrate the feasibility of this model by mathematical simulation. Together, these results support the hypothesis that Ft/Ds/Fj provides a signal to orient core PCP function via MT polarization.

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Author details

  1. Maja Matis

    University of Münster, Münster, Germany
    For correspondence
    matism@uni-muenster.de
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. David A Russler-Germain

    Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Qie Hu

    University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Claire J Tomlin

    University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Jeffrey D Axelrod

    Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Copyright

© 2014, Matis et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Maja Matis
  2. David A Russler-Germain
  3. Qie Hu
  4. Claire J Tomlin
  5. Jeffrey D Axelrod
(2014)
Microtubules provide directional information for core PCP function
eLife 3:e02893.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02893

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02893

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