Wnt Regulation of Planar Cell Polarity (PCP)

• Published in: Current Topics in Developmental Biology Vol. 101; pp. 263 - 295
• Main Author: Gao, Bo
• Format: Book Chapter Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Science & Technology 2012
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Movement; Cell Polarity; Drosophila - embryology; Drosophila - genetics; Drosophila - metabolism; Drosophila Proteins - genetics; Drosophila Proteins - metabolism; Embryonic Development; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Global Cue; Hair - metabolism; Mice; Morphogen; Nerve Tissue Proteins - genetics; Nerve Tissue Proteins - metabolism; Neural Tube Defects - metabolism; Neural Tube Defects - pathology; PCP; Planar cell polarity; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - genetics; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - metabolism; Wings, Animal - cytology; Wings, Animal - metabolism; Wnt; Wnt Proteins - genetics; Wnt Proteins - metabolism; Wnt Signaling Pathway; Wnt-5a Protein; Zebrafish - embryology; Zebrafish - genetics; Zebrafish - metabolism; Zebrafish Proteins - genetics; Zebrafish Proteins - metabolism; Planar cell polarity; Morphogen; PCP; Wnt; Global Cue
• ISBN: 0123945925; 9780123945921
• ISSN: 0070-2153; 1557-8933
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394592-1.00008-9

Planar cell polarity (PCP), a process controlling coordinated, uniformly polarized cellular behaviors in a field of cells, has been identified to be critically required for many fundamental developmental processes. However, a global directional cue that establishes PCP in a three-dimensional tissue or organ with respect to the body axes remains elusive. In vertebrate, while Wnt-secreted signaling molecules have been implicated in regulating PCP in a β-catenin-independent manner, whether they function permissively or act as a global cue to convey directional information is not clearly defined. In addition, the underlying molecular mechanism by which Wnt signal is transduced to core PCP proteins is largely unknown. In this chapter, I review the roles of Wnt signaling in regulating PCP during vertebrate development and update our knowledge of its regulatory mechanism.