UMMS Affiliation

RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine

Publication Date

2013-10-01

Document Type

Article

Subjects

Asymmetric Cell Division

Disciplines

Biochemistry | Cell Biology | Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Genetic Processes | Molecular Biology | Molecular Genetics

Abstract

C. elegans, with its invariant cell lineage, provides a powerful model system in which to study signaling-dependent asymmetric cell division. The C. elegans β-catenin-related protein, WRM-1, specifies endoderm at the 4-cell stage during the first cell signaling-induced asymmetric cell division of embryogenesis. During this interaction, Wnt signaling and the cell cycle regulator CDK-1 act together to induce the asymmetric cortical release of WRM-1 at prophase of the EMS cell cycle. Genetic studies suggest that release of WRM-1 unmasks a cortical site that drives EMS spindle rotation onto the polarized axis of the cell, simultaneously making WRM-1 available for nuclear translocation, and downstream signaling to specify endoderm. These studies suggest a general paradigm for how cortical factors like WRM-1 can function at the cell cortex to mask potentially confounding polarity cues, and when released with appropriate cell cycle timing, can also function downstream to define cell fate.

Rights and Permissions

This is an open-access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. The article may be redistributed, reproduced, and reused for non-commercial purposes, provided the original source is properly cited.

DOI of Published Version

10.4161/worm.26276

Source

Ishidate T, Kim S, Mello CC, Shirayama M. Inductive asymmetric cell division: The WRM leads the way. Worm 2013; 2:e26276; http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/worm.26276

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Worm

Related Resources

Link to article in PubMed

PubMed ID

24524013

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