title: Inductive asymmetric cell division: The WRM leads the way.
abstract: C. elegans, with its invariant cell lineage, provides a powerful model system in which to study signaling-dependent asymmetric cell division. The C. elegans β-catenin-related protein, WRM-1, specifies endoderm at the 4-cell stage during the first cell signaling-induced asymmetric cell division of embryogenesis. During this interaction, Wnt signaling and the cell cycle regulator CDK-1 act together to induce the asymmetric cortical release of WRM-1 at prophase of the EMS cell cycle. Genetic studies suggest that release of WRM-1 unmasks a cortical site that drives EMS spindle rotation onto the polarized axis of the cell, simultaneously making WRM-1 available for nuclear translocation, and downstream signaling to specify endoderm. These studies suggest a general paradigm for how cortical factors like WRM-1 can function at the cell cortex to mask potentially confounding polarity cues, and when released with appropriate cell cycle timing, can also function downstream to define cell fate.
authors: RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Worcester, MA USA.
authors: Takao
authors: T
authors: Ishidate
authors: RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Worcester, MA USA.
authors: Soyoung
authors: S
authors: Kim
authors: RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Worcester, MA USA.
authors: Craig
authors: C
authors: Mello
authors: RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Worcester, MA USA.
authors: Masaki
authors: M
authors: Shirayama