The PAR proteins: fundamental players in animal cell polarization.
The par genes were discovered in genetic screens for regulators of cytoplasmic partitioning in the early embryo of C. elegans, and encode six different proteins required for asymmetric cell division by the worm zygote. Some of the PAR proteins are localized asymmetrically and form physical complexes with one another. Strikingly, the PAR proteins have been found to regulate cell polarization in many different contexts in diverse animals, suggesting they form part of an ancient and fundamental mechanism for cell polarization. Although the picture of how the PAR proteins function remains incomplete, cell biology and biochemistry are beginning to explain how PAR proteins polarize cells.
Goldstein
Bob
B
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. Electronic address: bobg@unc.edu.
Macara
Ian G
IG
Department of Microbiology, Center for Cell Signaling, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. Electronic address: igm9c@virginia.edu.
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D016764:Cell Polarity; D004330:Drosophila / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C409406:PAR-1 protein, C elegans; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases