Regulation of polarized extension and planar cell polarity in the cochlea by the vertebrate PCP pathway.
The mammalian auditory sensory organ, the organ of Corti, consists of sensory hair cells with uniformly oriented stereocilia on the apical surfaces and has a distinct planar cell polarity (PCP) parallel to the sensory epithelium. It is not certain how this polarity is achieved during differentiation. Here we show that the organ of Corti is formed from a thicker and shorter postmitotic primordium through unidirectional extension, characteristic of cellular intercalation known as convergent extension. Mutations in the PCP pathway interfere with this extension, resulting a shorter and wider cochlea as well as misorientation of stereocilia. Furthermore, parallel to the homologous pathway in Drosophila melanogaster, a mammalian PCP component Dishevelled2 shows PCP-dependent polarized subcellular localization across the organ of Corti. Taken together, these data suggest that there is a conserved molecular mechanism for PCP pathways in invertebrates and vertebrates and indicate that the mammalian PCP pathway might directly couple cellular intercalations to PCP establishment in the cochlea.
Wang
Jianbo
J
Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Mark
Sharayne
S
Zhang
Xiaohui
X
Qian
Dong
D
Yoo
Seung-Jong
SJ
Radde-Gallwitz
Kristen
K
Zhang
Yanping
Y
Lin
Xi
X
Collazo
Andres
A
Wynshaw-Boris
Anthony
A
Chen
Ping
P
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D016764:Cell Polarity; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology*; D000072261:Dishevelled Proteins; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009154:Mutation; D009925:Organ of Corti; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011247:Pregnancy; D011506:Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013347:Subcellular Fractions; D014714:Vertebrates
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000072261:Dishevelled Proteins; C000606582:Dvl2 protein, mouse; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins