Coordinating cell polarity and cell cycle progression: what can we learn from flies and worms?
Spatio-temporal coordination of events during cell division is crucial for animal development. In recent years, emerging data have strengthened the notion that tight coupling of cell cycle progression and cell polarity in dividing cells is crucial for asymmetric cell division and ultimately for metazoan development. Although it is acknowledged that such coupling exists, the molecular mechanisms linking the cell cycle and cell polarity machineries are still under investigation. Key cell cycle regulators control cell polarity, and thus influence cell fate determination and/or differentiation, whereas some factors involved in cell polarity regulate cell cycle timing and proliferation potential. The scope of this review is to discuss the data linking cell polarity and cell cycle progression, and the importance of such coupling for asymmetric cell division. Because studies in model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster have started to reveal the molecular mechanisms of this coordination, we will concentrate on these two systems. We review examples of molecular mechanisms suggesting a coupling between cell polarity and cell cycle progression.
Department of Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Anna
A
Noatynska
Nicolas
N
Tavernier
Monica
M
Gotta
Lionel
L
Pintard
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins
Caenorhabditis elegans; Drosophila melanogaster; cell cycle; cell polarity