Establishment of cell polarity by interactions between Wnt and PCP factors.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K14720
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 44020:Developmental biology-related
• Research Institution: National Institute for Basic Biology
• Principal Investigator: Mii Yusuke 基礎生物学研究所, 分子発生学研究部門, 助教 (70634129)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: Xenopus / アフリカツメガエル / Wnt / モルフォゲン / 平面細胞極性 / PCP

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Planar cell polarity is the directionaly of cells within a tissue plain, which is widely conserved among animals. A family of secreted signaling proteins, Wnt has been considered as a directional cue for PCP, supposedly by forming a concentration gradient as a morphogen. However, this model is not directly examined because visualization of Wnt ligands are still lacking. In this study, we found that a subtype of Wnt proteins involved in PCP did not show graded distributions, based on visualization of Wnt proteins. Furthermore, we found that core PCP components, which are essential for PCP formation, are involved in the distribution of the Wnt protein.

Free Research Field

発生生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで、分泌性のシグナル蛋白質であるWntは濃度勾配によって位置情報を与える物質「モルフォゲン」の一種と捉えられており、この文脈にそって、組織平面内の細胞の方向性である「平面細胞極性」もWntの濃度勾配によって向きが揃えられていると考えられてきた。しかし、本研究からWnt蛋白質の分布が必ずしも濃度勾配的ではないことが判明し、さらに平面細胞極性の必須因子であるコアPCP因子はWntの分布に関与することが示された。これは従来のモルフォゲンの範疇にとどまらないWntの作用機序に対する理解を大きく前進させるものである。