Revisiting the role of microtubules in C. elegans polarity.
Cells must break symmetry to acquire polarity. Microtubules have been implicated in the induction of asymmetry in several cell types, but their role in the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, a classic polarity model, has remained uncertain. One study (see Tsai and Ahringer on p. 397 of this issue) brings new light to this problem by demonstrating that severe loss of microtubules impairs polarity onset in C. elegans.
Motegi
Fumio
F
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Cell Dynamics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. fmotegi1@jhmi.edu
Seydoux
Geraldine
G
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D018385:Centrosome / Q000378:metabolism; D005306:Fertilization; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D034622:RNA Interference; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D015053:Zygote / Q000502:physiology