Publication Date:
2003-05-17
Description:
Asymmetric divisions are crucial for generating cell diversity; they rely on coupling between polarity cues and spindle positioning, but how this coupling is achieved is poorly understood. In one-cell stage Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, polarity cues set by the PAR proteins mediate asymmetric spindle positioning by governing an imbalance of net pulling forces acting on spindle poles. We found that the GoLoco-containing proteins GPR-1 and GPR-2, as well as the Galpha subunits GOA-1 and GPA-16, were essential for generation of proper pulling forces. GPR-1/2 interacted with guanosine diphosphate-bound GOA-1 and were enriched on the posterior cortex in a par-3- and par-2-dependent manner. Thus, the extent of net pulling forces may depend on cortical Galpha activity, which is regulated by anterior-posterior polarity cues through GPR-1/2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Colombo, Kelly -- Grill, Stephan W -- Kimple, Randall J -- Willard, Francis S -- Siderovski, David P -- Gonczy, Pierre -- GM62338/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2003 Jun 20;300(5627):1957-61. Epub 2003 May 15.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), 1066 Epalinges/Lausanne, Switzerland.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12750478" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Animals, Genetically Modified
;
Caenorhabditis elegans/cytology/*embryology/genetics/physiology
;
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics/*metabolism
;
*Cell Division
;
*Cell Polarity
;
Cues
;
GTP-Binding Proteins/genetics/metabolism
;
Phenotype
;
Protein Subunits/genetics/metabolism
;
RNA Interference
;
Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism
;
Signal Transduction
;
Spindle Apparatus/*physiology/ultrastructure
;
Two-Hybrid System Techniques
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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