Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2013-10-01Keywords
Asymmetric Cell DivisionBiochemistry
Cell Biology
Cellular and Molecular Physiology
Genetic Processes
Molecular Biology
Molecular Genetics
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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.Source
Ishidate T, Kim S, Mello CC, Shirayama M. Inductive asymmetric cell division: The WRM leads the way. Worm 2013; 2:e26276; http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/worm.26276
DOI
10.4161/worm.26276Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/44416PubMed ID
24524013Related Resources
Link to article in PubMedRights
This is an open-access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. The article may be redistributed, reproduced, and reused for non-commercial purposes, provided the original source is properly cited.
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.4161/worm.26276