1. Developmental Biology
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Reciprocal and dynamic polarization of planar cell polarity core components and myosin

  1. Erin Newman-Smith
  2. Matthew J Kourakis
  3. Wendy Reeves
  4. Michael Veeman
  5. William C Smith  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
Research Article
  • Cited 22
  • Views 1,920
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Cite this article as: eLife 2015;4:e05361 doi: 10.7554/eLife.05361

Abstract

The Ciona notochord displays PCP-dependent polarity, with anterior localization of Prickle (Pk) and Strabismus (Stbm). We report that a myosin is polarized anteriorly in these cells and strongly colocalize with Stbm. Disruption of the actin/myosin machinery with cytochalasin or blebbistatin disrupts polarization of Pk and Stbm, but not of myosin complexes, suggesting a PCP-independent aspect of myosin localization. Washout of cytochalasin restored Pk polarization, but not if done in the presence of blebbistatin, suggesting an active role for myosin in core PCP protein localization. On the other hand, in the pk mutant line aimless myosin polarization in approximately one third of the cells, indicating a reciprocal action of core PCP signaling on myosin localization. Our results indicate a complex relationship between the actomyosin cytoskeleton and core PCP components in which myosin is not simply a downstream target of PCP signaling, but also required for PCP protein localization.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Erin Newman-Smith

    Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Matthew J Kourakis

    Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa barbara, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Wendy Reeves

    Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa barbara, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Michael Veeman

    Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa barbara, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. William C Smith

    Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
    For correspondence
    w_smith@lifesci.ucsb.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Reviewing Editor

  1. K VijayRaghavan, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, India

Publication history

  1. Received: October 28, 2014
  2. Accepted: April 10, 2015
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: April 13, 2015 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: May 5, 2015 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2015, Newman-Smith 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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