title: Cell polarization: mechanical switch for a chemical reaction.
abstract: Anterior-posterior polarity in the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote depends on two groups of PAR proteins, as well as on cortical flow. Recent work now demonstrates that this polarization results from a transition in a bistable reaction-diffusion system of PAR proteins that is triggered by cortical flow.
authors.affiliation: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratory of Cell Biophysics, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland. alexander.verkhovsky@epfl.ch
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Verkhovsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016764:Cell Polarity; D004058:Diffusion; D015053:Zygote / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins