title: Development and dynamics of cell polarity at a glance.
abstract: Cells exhibit morphological and molecular asymmetries that are broadly categorized as cell polarity. The cell polarity established in early embryos prefigures the macroscopic anatomical asymmetries characteristic of adult animals. For example, eggs and early embryos have polarized distributions of RNAs and proteins that generate global anterior/posterior and dorsal/ventral axes. The molecular programs that polarize embryos are subsequently reused in multiple contexts. Epithelial cells require apical/basal polarity to establish their barrier function. Migrating cells polarize in the direction of movement, creating distinct leading and trailing structures. Asymmetrically dividing stem cells partition different molecules between themselves and their daughter cells. Cell polarity can developde novo, be maintained through rounds of cell division and be dynamically remodeled. In this Cell Science at a Glance review and poster, we describe molecular asymmetries that underlie cell polarity in several cellular contexts. We highlight multiple developmental systems that first establish cell/developmental polarity, and then maintain it. Our poster showcases repeated use of the Par, Scribble and Crumbs polarity complexes, which drive the development of cell polarity in many cell types and organisms. We then briefly discuss the diverse and dynamic changes in cell polarity that occur during cell migration, asymmetric cell division and in planar polarized tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Campanale
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA denise.montell@lifesci.ucsb.edu.
authors.forename: Denise J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8924-5925
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Montell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060049:Asymmetric Cell Division; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement; D016764:Cell Polarity; D006801:Humans; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D046912:Multiprotein Complexes
keywords: Apical basal polarity; Asymmetric cell division; Axis specification; Cell migration; Cell polarity complexes; Cell polarity signaling; Crumbs complex; Par complex; Planar cell polarity; Scribble complex