title: Getting to know your neighbor: cell polarization in early embryos.
abstract: Polarization of early embryos along cell contact patterns--referred to in this paper as radial polarization--provides a foundation for the initial cell fate decisions and morphogenetic movements of embryogenesis. Although polarity can be established through distinct upstream mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans, Xenopus laevis, and mouse embryos, in each species, it results in the restriction of PAR polarity proteins to contact-free surfaces of blastomeres. In turn, PAR proteins influence cell fates by affecting signaling pathways, such as Hippo and Wnt, and regulate morphogenetic movements by directing cytoskeletal asymmetries.
authors.affiliation: Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016 Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016 Jeremy.Nance@med.nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nance
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000166:cytology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002450:Cell Communication; D016764:Cell Polarity; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction