Planar cell polarity emerges through polarized accumulation of Wnt11.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41739933.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aea0326 and PMC identifier 12935041.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Planar cell polarity (PCP) is established by asymmetric localization of core PCP components in each cell. Because some Wnt proteins can induce PCP in vertebrates, it has been proposed that Wnt concentration gradients provide spatial cues for polarization. However, here, we present evidence that Wnt11 can regulate PCP in a gradient-independent manner. In the neural plate of <i>Xenopus</i> embryos, endogenous Wnt11 does not form an obvious gradient in the direction of PCP, but is polarized at cell boundaries together with core PCP components. Wnt11 polarization is dependent on core PCP components, while polarization of core PCP components can also be induced by Wnt11, indicating a mutual amplification loop between Wnt11 and core PCP components in PCP formation. Furthermore, Wnt11 and core PCP components compose an intercellular loop to coordinate the direction of polarity. Thus, we propose that local and reciprocal interactions between Wnt11 and core PCP components can generate PCP.