The Drosophila tissue polarity gene inturned acts cell autonomously and encodes a novel protein

Centriole planar polarity assessment in Drosophila wings

In vertebrates, planar polarization of ciliary basal bodies has been associated with actin polymerization that occurs downstream of the Frizzled-planar cell polarity (Fz-PCP) pathway. In Drosophila wing epithelial cells, which do not have cilia, centrioles also polarize in a Fz-PCP-dependent manner, although the relationship with actin polymerization remains unknown. By combining existing and new quantitative methods, we unexpectedly found that known PCP effectors linked to actin polymerization phenotypes affect neither final centriole polarization nor apical centriole distribution. But actin polymerization is required upstream of Fz-PCP to maintain the centrioles in restricted areas in the apical-most planes of those epithelial cells before and after the actin-based hair is formed. Furthermore, in the absence of proper core Fz-PCP signalling, actin polymerization is insufficient to drive this off-centred centriole migration. Altogether, the results reveal that there are at least two pathways controlling centriole positioning in Drosophila pupal wings - an upstream actin-dependent mechanism involved in centriole distribution that is PCP independent, and an unknown mechanism that links core Fz-PCP and centriole polarization.

Planar cell polarity in moving cells: think globally, act locally

The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is best known for its role in polarizing epithelial cells within the plane of a tissue but it also plays a role in a range of cell migration events during development. The mechanism by which the PCP pathway polarizes stationary epithelial cells is well characterized, but how PCP signaling functions to regulate more dynamic cell behaviors during directed cell migration is much less understood. Here, we review recent discoveries regarding the localization of PCP proteins in migrating cells and their impact on the cell biology of collective and individual cell migratory behaviors.

INTU is essential for oncogenic Hh signaling through regulating primary cilia formation in basal cell carcinoma

Inturned (INTU), a cilia and planar polarity effector (CPLANE), performs prominent ciliogenic functions during morphogenesis, such as in the skin. INTU is expressed in adult tissues but its role in tissue maintenance is unknown. Here, we report that the expression of the INTU gene is aberrantly elevated in human basal cell carcinoma (BCC), coinciding with increased primary cilia formation and activated hedgehog (Hh) signaling. Disrupting Intu in an oncogenic mutant Smo (SmoM2)-driven BCC mouse model prevented the formation of BCC through suppressing primary cilia formation and Hh signaling, suggesting that Intu performs a permissive role during BCC formation. INTU is essential for IFT-A complex assembly during ciliogenesis. To further determine whether Intu is directly involved in the activation of Hh signaling downstream of ciliogenesis, we examined the Hh signaling pathway in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, which readily respond to Hh pathway activation. Depleting Intu blocked SAG-induced Hh pathway activation, whereas the expression of Gli2ΔN, a constitutively active Gli2, restored Hh pathway activation in Intu-deficient cells, suggesting that INTU functions upstream of Gli2 activation. In contrast, overexpressing Intu did not promote ciliogenesis or Hh signaling. Taken together, data obtained from this study suggest that INTU is indispensable during BCC tumorigenesis and that its aberrant upregulation is likely a prerequisite for primary cilia formation during Hh-dependent tumorigenesis.

From Planar Cell Polarity to Ciliogenesis and Back: The Curious Tale of the PPE and CPLANE proteins

Why some genes are more popular than others remains an open question, but one example of this phenomenon involves the genes controlling planar cell polarity (PCP), the polarization of cells within a plane of a tissue. Indeed, the so-called 'core' PCP genes such as dishevelled, frizzled, and prickle have been extensively studied both in animal models and by human genetics. By contrast, other genes that influence PCP signaling have received far less attention. Among the latter are inturned, fuzzy, and fritz, but recent work should bring these once obscure regulators into the limelight. We provide here a brief history of planar polarity effector (PPE) and CPLANE (ciliogenesis and planar polarity effector) proteins, discuss recent advances in understanding their molecular mechanisms of action, and describe their roles in human disease.

Tissue morphodynamics: Translating planar polarity cues into polarized cell behaviors

The ability of cells to collectively orient and align their behaviors is essential in multicellular organisms for unidirectional cilia beating, collective cell movements, oriented cell divisions, and asymmetric cell fate specification. The planar cell polarity pathway coordinates a vast and diverse array of collective cell behaviors by intersecting with downstream pathways that regulate cytoskeletal dynamics and intercellular signaling. How the planar polarity pathway translates directional cues to produce polarized cell behaviors is the focus of this review.

Spatial and temporal aspects of Wnt signaling and planar cell polarity during vertebrate embryonic development

Wnt signaling pathways act at multiple locations and developmental stages to specify cell fate and polarity in vertebrate embryos. A long-standing question is how the same molecular machinery can be reused to produce different outcomes. The canonical Wnt/β-catenin branch modulates target gene transcription to specify cell fates along the dorsoventral and anteroposterior embryonic axes. By contrast, the Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) branch is responsible for cell polarization along main body axes, which coordinates morphogenetic cell behaviors during gastrulation and neurulation. Whereas both cell fate and cell polarity are modulated by spatially- and temporally-restricted Wnt activity, the downstream signaling mechanisms are very diverse. This review highlights recent progress in the understanding of Wnt-dependent molecular events leading to the establishment of PCP and linking it to early morphogenetic processes.

The clathrin adaptor AP-1 complex and Arf1 regulate planar cell polarity in vivo

A key step in generating planar cell polarity (PCP) is the formation of restricted junctional domains containing Frizzled/Dishevelled/Diego (Fz/Dsh/Dgo) or Van Gogh/Prickle (Vang/Pk) complexes within the same cell, stabilized via Flamingo (Fmi) across cell membranes. Although models have been proposed for how these complexes acquire and maintain their polarized localization, the machinery involved in moving core PCP proteins around cells remains unknown. We describe the AP-1 adaptor complex and Arf1 as major regulators of PCP protein trafficking in vivo. AP-1 and Arf1 disruption affects the accumulation of Fz/Fmi and Vang/Fmi complexes in the proximo-distal axis, producing severe PCP phenotypes. Using novel tools, we demonstrate a direct and specific Arf1 involvement in Fz trafficking in vivo. Moreover, we uncover a conserved Arf1 PCP function in vertebrates. Our data support a model whereby the trafficking machinery plays an important part during PCP establishment, promoting formation of polarized PCP-core complexes in vivo.

The planar cell polarity effector protein Wdpcp (Fritz) controls epithelial cell cortex dynamics via septins and actomyosin

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling controls polarized behaviors in diverse tissues, including the collective cell movements of gastrulation and the planar polarized beating of motile cilia. A major question in PCP signaling concerns the mechanisms linking this signaling cascade with more general cytoskeletal elements to drive polarized behavior. Previously, we reported that the PCP effector protein Wdpcp (formerly known as Fritz) interacts with septins and is critical for collective cell migration and cilia formation. Here, we report that Wdpcp is broadly involved in maintaining cortical tension in epithelial cells. In vivo 3D time-lapse imaging revealed that Wdpcp is necessary for basolateral plasma membrane stability in epithelial tissues, and we further show that Wdpcp controls cortical septin localization to maintain cortical rigidity in mucociliary epithelial cells. Finally, we show that Wdpcp acts via actomyosin to maintain balanced cortical tension in the epithelium. These data suggest that, in addition to its role in controlling plasma membrane dynamics in collective mesenchymal cell movements, Wdpcp is also essential for normal cell cortex stability during epithelial homeostasis.

The proteins encoded by the Drosophila Planar Polarity Effector genes inturned, fuzzy and fritz interact physically and can re-pattern the accumulation of "upstream" Planar Cell Polarity proteins

The frizzled/starry night pathway regulates planar cell polarity in a wide variety of tissues in many types of animals. It was discovered and has been most intensively studied in the Drosophila wing where it controls the formation of the array of distally pointing hairs that cover the wing. The pathway does this by restricting the activation of the cytoskeleton to the distal edge of wing cells. This results in hairs initiating at the distal edge and growing in the distal direction. All of the proteins encoded by genes in the pathway accumulate asymmetrically in wing cells. The pathway is a hierarchy with the Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) genes (aka the core genes) functioning as a group upstream of the Planar Polarity Effector (PPE) genes which in turn function as a group upstream of multiple wing hairs. Upstream proteins, such as Frizzled accumulate on either the distal and/or proximal edges of wing cells. Downstream PPE proteins accumulate on the proximal edge under the instruction of the upstream proteins. A variety of types of data support this hierarchy, however, we have found that when over expressed the PPE proteins can alter both the subcellular location and level of accumulation of the upstream proteins. Thus, the epistatic relationship is context dependent. We further show that the PPE proteins interact physically and can modulate the accumulation of each other in wing cells. We also find that over expression of Frtz results in a marked delay in hair initiation suggesting that it has a separate role/activity in regulating the cytoskeleton that is not shared by other members of the group.

Planar cell polarity signaling: coordination of cellular orientation across tissues

Establishment of Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) in epithelia, in the plane of an epithelium, is an important feature of the development and homeostasis of most organs. Studies in different model organisms have contributed a wealth of information regarding the mechanisms that govern PCP regulation. Genetic studies in Drosophila have identified two signaling systems, the Fz/PCP and Fat/Dachsous system, which are both required for PCP establishment in many different tissues in a largely non-redundant manner. Recent advances in vertebrate PCP studies have added novel factors of PCP regulation and also new cellular features requiring PCP-signaling input, including the positioning and orientation of the primary cilium of many epithelial cells. This review focuses mostly on several recent advances made in the Drosophila and vertebrate PCP field and integrates these within the existing PCP-signaling framework.

Planar cell polarity and the developmental control of cell behavior in vertebrate embryos

Planar cell polarity (PCP), the orientation and alignment of cells within a sheet, is a ubiquitous cellular property that is commonly governed by the conserved set of proteins encoded by so-called PCP genes. The PCP proteins coordinate developmental signaling cues with individual cell behaviors in a wildly diverse array of tissues. Consequently, disruptions of PCP protein functions are linked to defects in axis elongation, inner ear patterning, neural tube closure, directed ciliary beating, and left/right patterning, to name only a few. This review attempts to synthesize what is known about PCP and the PCP proteins in vertebrate animals, with a particular focus on the mechanisms by which individual cells respond to PCP cues in order to execute specific cellular behaviors.

Cohesin controls planar cell polarity by regulating the level of the seven-pass transmembrane cadherin Flamingo

Planar cell polarity (PCP) refers to the coordination of global organ axes and individual cell polarity in vertebrate and invertebrate epithelia. Mechanisms of PCP have been best studied in the Drosophila wing, in which each epidermal cell produces a single wing hair at the distal cell edge, and this spatial specification is mediated by redistribution of the core group proteins, including the seven-pass transmembrane cadherin Flamingo/Starry night (Fmi/Stan), to selective plasma membrane domains. Through genetic screening, we found that a mutation of the SMC3 gene caused dramatic misspecification of wing hair positions. SMC3 protein is one subunit of the cohesin complex, which regulates sister chromatid cohesion and also plays a role in transcriptional control of gene expression. In the SMC3 mutant cells, Fmi appeared to be upregulated by a posttranscriptional mechanism(s), and this elevation of Fmi was at least one cause of the PCP defect. In addition to the PCP phenotype, the loss of the cohesin function affected wing morphogenesis at multiple levels: one malformation was loss of the wing margin, and this was most likely a result of downregulation of the homeodomain protein Cut. At the cellular level, apical cell size and hexagonal packing were affected in the mutant wing. Dysfunction of cohesin in humans results in Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS), which is characterized by various developmental abnormalities and mental retardation. Our analysis of cohesin in epithelia may provide new insight into cellular and molecular mechanisms of CdLS.

The frizzled/stan pathway and planar cell polarity in the Drosophila wing

Drosophila has been the key model system for studies on planar cell polarity (PCP). The rich morphology of the insect exoskeleton contains many structures that display PCP. Among these are the trichomes (cuticular hairs) that cover much of the exoskeleton, sensory bristles, and ommatidia. Many genes have been identified that must function for the development of normal PCP. Among these are the genes that comprise the frizzled/starry night (fz/stan) and dachsous/fat pathways. The mechanisms that underlie the function of the fz/stan pathway are best understood. All of the protein products of these genes accumulate asymmetrically in wing cells and there is good evidence that this involves local intercellular signaling between protein complexes on the distal edge of one cell and the juxtaposed proximal edge of its neighbor. It is thought that a feedback system, directed transport, and stabilizing protein-protein interactions mediate the formation of distal and proximal protein complexes. These complexes appear to recruit downstream proteins that function to spatially restrict the activation of the cytoskeleton in wing cells. This leads to the formation of the array of distally pointing hairs found on wings.

PCP effector proteins inturned and fuzzy play nonredundant roles in the patterning but not convergent extension of mammalian neural tube

PCP effector proteins Inturned (Intu) and Fuzzy (Fuz) play important roles in mammalian neural development and ciliogenesis, but the developmental defects in Intu and Fuz mutants are not the same as those with the complete loss of cilia. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether mouse Intu and Fuz play a role in convergent extension, a process regulated by PCP signaling. In the current study, we show that the functions of both Intu and Fuz in neural tube patterning are dependent on the presence of cilia. We further show that neither gene exhibits obvious genetic interaction with the core PCP regulator Vangl2 in convergent extension or patterning of the neural tube. Finally, we show in Intu; Fuz double mutants that the lack of convergent extension and more severe patterning defects in Intu and Fuz mutants does not result from a functional redundancy between these two proteins.

Planar cell polarity: coordinating morphogenetic cell behaviors with embryonic polarity

Planar cell polarization entails establishment of cellular asymmetries within the tissue plane. An evolutionarily conserved planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling system employs intra- and intercellular feedback interactions between its core components, including Frizzled, Van Gogh, Flamingo, Prickle, and Dishevelled, to establish their characteristic asymmetric intracellular distributions and coordinate planar polarity of cell populations. By translating global patterning information into asymmetries of cell membranes and intracellular organelles, PCP signaling coordinates morphogenetic behaviors of individual cells and cell populations with the embryonic polarity. In vertebrates, by polarizing cilia in the node/Kupffer's vesicle, PCP signaling links the anteroposterior to left-right embryonic polarity.

Principles of planar polarity in animal development

Planar polarity describes the coordinated polarisation of cells or structures in the plane of a tissue. The patterning mechanisms that underlie planar polarity are well characterised in Drosophila, where many events are regulated by two pathways: the 'core' planar polarity complex and the Fat/Dachsous system. Components of both pathways also function in vertebrates and are implicated in diverse morphogenetic processes, some of which self-evidently involve planar polarisation and some of which do not. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms and cellular consequences of planar polarisation in diverse contexts, seeking to identify the common principles across the animal kingdom.

Planar cell polarity signaling, cilia and polarized ciliary beating

Planar cell polarity signaling governs a wide array of polarized cell behaviors in animals. Recent reports now show that PCP signaling is essential for the directional beating of motile cilia. Interestingly, PCP signaling acts in a variety of ciliated cell types that use motile cilia to generate directional fluid flow in very different ways. This review will synthesize these recent papers and place them in context with previous studies of PCP signaling in polarized cellular morphogenesis and collective cell movement.

Strange as it may seem: the many links between Wnt signaling, planar cell polarity, and cilia

Cilia are important cellular structures that have been implicated in a variety of signaling cascades. In this review, we discuss the current evidence for and against a link between cilia and both the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway and the noncanonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway. Furthermore, we address the evidence implicating a role for PCP components in ciliogenesis. Given the lack of consensus in the field, we use new data on the control of ciliary protein localization as a basis for proposing new models by which cell type-specific regulation of ciliary components via differential transport, regulated entry and exit, or diffusion barriers might generate context-dependent functions for cilia.

The Drosophila planar polarity proteins inturned and multiple wing hairs interact physically and function together

The conserved frizzled (fz) pathway regulates planar cell polarity in both vertebrate and invertebrate animals. This pathway has been most intensively studied in the wing of Drosophila, where the proteins encoded by pathway genes all accumulate asymmetrically. Upstream members of the pathway accumulate on the proximal, distal, or both cell edges in the vicinity of the adherens junction. More downstream components including Inturned and Multiple Wing Hairs accumulate on the proximal side of wing cells prior to hair initiation. The Mwh protein differs from other members of the pathway in also accumulating in growing hairs. Here we show that the two Mwh accumulation patterns are under different genetic control with the early proximal accumulation being regulated by the fz pathway and the latter hair accumulation being largely independent of the pathway. We also establish recruitment by proximally localized Inturned to be a putative mechanism for the localization of Mwh to the proximal side of wing cells. Genetically inturned (in) acts upstream of mwh (mwh) and is required for the proximal localization of Mwh. We show that Mwh can bind to and co-immunoprecipitate with Inturned. We also show that these two proteins can function in close juxtaposition in vivo. An InMwh fusion protein provided complete rescue activity for both in and mwh mutations. The fusion protein localized to the proximal side of wing cells prior to hair formation and in growing hairs as expected if protein localization is a key for the function of these proteins.

PCP effector gene Inturned is an important regulator of cilia formation and embryonic development in mammals

The PCP effector gene Inturned regulates planar cell polarity (PCP) and wing hair formation in Drosophila wings. In order to understand the roles for Inturned in mammalian embryonic development, we generated a null mutant allele for the mouse homologue of Inturned (Intu) via gene-targeting in ES cells. Mouse Intu null mutants are homozygous lethal at midgestation, exhibiting multiple defects including neural tube closure defects, abnormal dorsal/ventral patterning of the central nervous system and abnormal anterior-posterior patterning of the limbs resulting in severe polydactyly (7-9 digits each limb). The developmental processes affected by the Intu mutation are under the control of Hh signaling through Gli-family transcription factors. We found that in Intu mutant embryos the expression of Gli1 and Ptch1, two direct transcriptional targets of Hh signaling, is down-regulated, and the proteolytic processing of Gli3 is compromised. We further demonstrate that Intu plays significant roles in the formation of primary cilia both during embryonic development and in cultured fibroblasts. Finally, a cytoplasmic GFP-Intu fusion protein efficiently rescues the ciliogenic defects in Intu mutant cells. In conclusion, we show that PCP effector gene Intu is an important regulator of cilia formation, Hh signal transduction, and embryonic development in mammals.

Rho1 has multiple functions in Drosophila wing planar polarity

The frizzled (fz) signaling/signal transduction pathway controls planar cell polarity in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Previous data implicated Rho1 as a component of the fz pathway in Drosophila but it was unclear how it functioned. The existence of a G Protein Binding-Formin Homology 3 (GBD-FH3) domain in Multiple Wing Hairs, a downstream component of the pathway suggested that Rho1 might function by binding to and activating Mwh. We re-examined the role of Rho1 in wing planar polarity and found that it had multiple functions. Aberrant Rho1 activity led to changes in the number of hairs formed, changes in cell shape and F-actin and changes in cellular junctions. Experiments that utilized Rho effector loop mutations argued that these phenotypes were mediated by effects of Rho1 on the cytoskeleton and not by effects on transcription. We found strong positive genetic interactions between Rho1 and mwh, that Rho1 regulated the accumulation of Mwh protein and that these two proteins could be co-immunoprecipitated. The Mwh GBD:FH3 domain was sufficient for co-immunoprecipitation with Rho1, consistent with this domain mediating the interaction. However, further experiments showed that Rho1 function in wing differentiation was not limited to interacting with Mwh. We established by genetic experiments that Rho1 could influence hair morphogenesis in the absence of mwh and that the disruption of Rho1 activity could interfere with the zig zag accumulation pattern of upstream fz pathway proteins. Thus, our results argue that in addition to its interaction with Mwh Rho1 has functions in wing planar polarity that are parallel to and upstream of fz. The upstream function may be an indirect one and associated with the requirement for normal apical basal polarity and adherens junctions for the accumulation of PCP protein complexes.

Planar cell polarity signaling: from fly development to human disease

Most, if not all, cell types and tissues display several aspects of polarization. In addition to the ubiquitous epithelial cell polarity along the apical-basolateral axis, many epithelial tissues and organs are also polarized within the plane of the epithelium. This is generally referred to as planar cell polarity (PCP; or historically, tissue polarity). Genetic screens in Drosophila pioneered the discovery of core PCP factors, and subsequent work in vertebrates has established that the respective pathways are evolutionarily conserved. PCP is not restricted only to epithelial tissues but is also found in mesenchymal cells, where it can regulate cell migration and cell intercalation. Moreover, particularly in vertebrates, the conserved core PCP signaling factors have recently been found to be associated with the orientation or formation of cilia. This review discusses new developments in the molecular understanding of PCP establishment in Drosophila and vertebrates; these developments are integrated with new evidence that links PCP signaling to human disease.

Primary cilia in planar cell polarity regulation of the inner ear

Primary cilia are essential components of diverse cellular processes. Many of the requirements can be linked to the apparent signaling function of primary cilia. Recent studies have also uncovered a role for primary cilia in planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling. PCP refers to the coordinated orientation of cells along an axis parallel to the plane of the cell sheet. In vertebrates, the inner ear sensory organs display distinctive forms of PCP. One of the inner ear PCP characteristics is the coordinated positioning of a primary cilium eccentrically in every sensory hair cell within each organ. The inner ear, therefore, provides an opportunity to explore the cellular role of primary cilia in PCP signaling. In this chapter, we will introduce the PCP of the inner ear sensory organs, describe the conserved mechanism underlying the establishment of the planar polarity axis in invertebrates and vertebrates, and highlight a unique requirement for primary cilia in PCP regulation in vertebrates. Additionally, we will discuss a potentially ubiquitous role for cilia in cellular polarization in general.

The flare gene, which encodes the AIP1 protein of Drosophila, functions to regulate F-actin disassembly in pupal epidermal cells

Adult Drosophila are decorated with several types of polarized cuticular structures, such as hairs and bristles. The morphogenesis of these takes place in pupal cells and is mediated by the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. Mutations in flare (flr) result in grossly abnormal epidermal hairs. We report here that flr encodes the Drosophila actin interacting protein 1 (AIP1). In other systems this protein has been found to promote cofilin-mediated F-actin disassembly. In Drosophila cofilin is encoded by twinstar (tsr). We show that flr mutations result in increased levels of F-actin accumulation and increased F-actin stability in vivo. Further, flr is essential for cell proliferation and viability and for the function of the frizzled planar cell polarity system. All of these phenotypes are similar to those seen for tsr mutations. This differs from the situation in yeast where cofilin is essential while aip1 mutations result in only subtle defects in the actin cytoskeleton. Surprisingly, we found that mutations in flr and tsr also result in greatly increased tubulin staining, suggesting a tight linkage between the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton in these cells.

The balance between the novel protein target of wingless and the Drosophila Rho-associated kinase pathway regulates planar cell polarity in the Drosophila wing

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is mediated by the serpentine receptor Frizzled (Fz) and transduced by Dishevelled (Dsh). Wingless (Wg) signaling utilizes Drosophila Frizzled 2 (DFz2) as a receptor and also requires Dsh for transducing signals to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation in many developmental contexts. Distinct pathways are activated downstream of Dsh in Wg- and Fz-signaling pathways. Recently, a number of genes, which have essential roles as downstream components of PCP signaling, have been identified in Drosophila. They include the small GTPase RhoA/Rho1, its downstream effector Drosophila rho-associated kinase (Drok), and a number of genes such as inturned (in) and fuzzy (fy), whose biochemical functions are unclear. RhoA and Drok provide a link from Fz/Dsh signaling to the modulation of actin cytoskeleton. Here we report the identification of the novel gene target of wingless (tow) by enhancer trap screening. tow expression is negatively regulated by Wg signaling in wing imaginal discs, and the balance between tow and the Drok pathway regulates wing-hair morphogenesis. A loss-of-function mutation in tow does not result in a distinct phenotype. Genetic interaction and gain-of-function studies provide evidence that Tow acts downstream of Fz/Dsh and plays a role in restricting the number of hairs that wing cells form.

Frizzled/PCP signalling: a conserved mechanism regulating cell polarity and directed motility

Signalling through Frizzled (Fz)/planar cell polarity (PCP) is a conserved mechanism that polarizes cells along specific axes in a tissue. Genetic screens in Drosophila melanogaster pioneered the discovery of core PCP factors, which regulate the orientation of hairs on wings and facets in eyes. Recent genetic evidence shows that the Fz/PCP pathway is conserved in vertebrates and is crucial for disparate processes as gastrulation and sensory cell orientation. Fz/PCP signalling depends on complex interactions between core components, leading to their asymmetric distribution and ultimately polarized activity in a cell. Whereas several mechanistic aspects of PCP have been uncovered, the global coordination of this polarization remains debated.

Ciliogenesis defects in embryos lacking inturned or fuzzy function are associated with failure of planar cell polarity and Hedgehog signaling

The vertebrate planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway has previously been found to control polarized cell behaviors rather than cell fate. We report here that disruption of Xenopus laevis orthologs of the Drosophila melanogaster PCP effectors inturned (in) or fuzzy (fy) affected not only PCP-dependent convergent extension but also elicited embryonic phenotypes consistent with defective Hedgehog signaling. These defects in Hedgehog signaling resulted from a broad requirement for Inturned and Fuzzy in ciliogenesis. We show that these proteins govern apical actin assembly and thus control the orientation, but not assembly, of ciliary microtubules. Finally, accumulation of Dishevelled and Inturned near the basal apparatus of cilia suggests that these proteins function in a common pathway with core PCP components to regulate ciliogenesis. Together, these data highlight the interrelationships between cell polarity, cellular morphogenesis, signal transduction and cell fate specification.

The shavenoid gene of Drosophila encodes a novel actin cytoskeleton interacting protein that promotes wing hair morphogenesis

The simple cellular composition and array of distally pointing hairs has made the Drosophila wing a favored system for studying planar polarity and the coordination of cellular- and tissue-level morphogenesis. The developing hairs are filled with F-actin and microtubules and the activity of these cytoskeletons is important for hair morphogenesis. On the basis of mutant phenotypes several genes have been identified as playing a key role in stimulating hair formation. Mutations in shavenoid (sha) (also known as kojak) result in a delay in hair morphogenesis and in some cells forming no hair and others several small hairs. We report here the molecular identification and characterization of the sha gene and protein. sha encodes a large novel protein that has homologs in other insects, but not in more distantly related organisms. The Sha protein accumulated in growing hairs and bristles in a pattern that suggested that it could directly interact with the actin cytoskeleton. Consistent with this mechanism of action we found that Sha and actin co-immunoprecipitated from wing disc cells. The morphogenesis of the hair involves temporal control by sha and spatial control by the genes of the frizzled planar polarity pathway. We found a strong genetic interaction between mutations in these genes consistent with their having a close but parallel functional relationship.

Inturned localizes to the proximal side of wing cells under the instruction of upstream planar polarity proteins

Planar polarity development in the Drosophila wing is under the control of the frizzled (fz) pathway. Recent work has established that the planar polarity (PP) proteins become localized to either the distal, proximal, or both sides of wing cells. Fz and Dsh distal accumulation is thought to locally activate the cytoskeleton to form a hair . Planar polarity effector (PPE) genes such as inturned (in) are not required for the asymmetric accumulation of PP proteins, but they are required for this to influence hair polarity. in mutations result in abnormal hair polarity and are epistatic to mutations in the PP genes. We report that In localizes to the proximal side of wing cells in a PP-dependent and PP-instructive manner. We further show that the function of two other PPE genes (fuzzy and fritz) is essential for In protein localization, a finding consistent with previous genetic data that suggested these three genes function in a common process. These data indicate that accumulation of proteins at the proximal side of wing cells is a key event for the distal activation of the cytoskeleton to form a hair.

The WD40 repeat protein fritz links cytoskeletal planar polarity to frizzled subcellular localization in the Drosophila epidermis

Much of our understanding of the genetic mechanisms that control planar cell polarity (PCP) in epithelia has derived from studies of the formation of polarized cell hairs during Drosophila wing development. The correct localization of an F-actin prehair to the distal vertex of the pupal wing cell has been shown to be dependent upon the polarized subcellular localization of Frizzled and other core PCP proteins. However, the core PCP proteins do not organize actin cytoskeletal polarity directly but require PCP effector proteins such as Fuzzy and Inturned to mediate this process. Here we describe the characterization of a new PCP effector gene, fritz, that encodes a novel but evolutionarily conserved coiled-coil WD40 protein. We show that the fritz gene product functions cell-autonomously downstream of the core PCP proteins to regulate both the location and the number of wing cell prehair initiation sites.

A three-tiered mechanism for regulation of planar cell polarity

Some epithelial cells are polarized along an axis orthogonal to their apical-basal axes. Recent studies in Drosophila lead to the view that three classes of signaling molecules govern the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway. The first class, or module, functions across whole tissues, providing directional information to individual cells. The second module, apparently shared by all planar polarized tissues, and related to the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, interprets the directional signal to produce subcellular asymmetries. The third modules are tissue specific, acting to translate subcellular asymmetry into the appropriate morphological manifestations in the different cell types.

Planar signaling and morphogenesis in Drosophila

The regulatory mechanisms governing the parallel alignment of hairs, bristles, and ommatidia in Drosophila have all served as model systems for studying planar signaling and tissue level morphogenesis. Polarity in all three systems is mediated by the serpentine receptor Frizzled and a number of additional gene products. The localized accumulation of these proteins within cells plays a key role in the development of planar polarity. A comparison of the function of these gene products in the different cell types suggests cell-specific modifications of the pathway.

The function of the frizzled pathway in the Drosophila wing is dependent on inturned and fuzzy

The Drosophila epidermis is characterized by a dramatic planar or tissue polarity. The frizzled pathway has been shown to be a key regulator of planar polarity for hairs on the wing, ommatidia in the eye, and sensory bristles on the notum. We have investigated the genetic relationships between putative frizzled pathway downstream genes inturned, fuzzy, and multiple wing hairs (inturned-like genes) and upstream genes such as frizzled, prickle, and starry night (frizzled-like genes). Previous data showed that the inturned-like genes were epistatic to the frizzled-like genes when the entire wing was mutant. We extended those experiments and examined the behavior of frizzled clones in mutant wings. We found the domineering nonautonomy of frizzled clones was not altered when the clone cells were simultaneously mutant for inturned, multiple wing hairs, or dishevelled but it was blocked when the entire wing was mutant for inturned, fuzzy, multiple wing hairs, or dishevelled. Thus, for the domineering nonautonomy phenotype of frizzled, inturned and multiple wing hairs are needed in the responding cells but not in the clone itself. Expressing a number of frizzled pathway genes in a gradient across part of the wing repolarizes wing cells in that region. We found inturned, fuzzy, and multiple wing hairs were required for a gradient of frizzled, starry night, prickle, or spiny-legs expression to repolarize wing cells. These data argue that inturned, fuzzy, and multiple wing hairs are downstream components of the frizzled pathway. To further probe the relationship between the frizzled-like and inturned-like genes we determined the consequences of altering the activity of frizzled-like genes in wings that carried weak alleles of inturned or fuzzy. Interestingly, both increasing and decreasing the activity of frizzled and other upstream genes enhanced the phenotypes of hypomorphic inturned and fuzzy mutants. We also examined the relationship between the frizzled-like and inturned-like genes in other regions of the fly. For some body regions and cell types (e.g., abdomen) the inturned-like genes were epistatic to the frizzled-like genes, but in other body regions (e.g., eye) that was not the case. Thus, the genetic control of tissue polarity is body region specific.

Cell size and the morphogenesis of wing hairs in Drosophila

Almost all epidermal cells on the Drosophila wing produce a single cuticular hair. This is formed in the pupae from a microvillus-like cell projection called the prehair. Previous experiments have shown the existence of two mechanisms that ensure that only a single hair is made. One is the restriction of prehair initiation to a small subregion of the cell by the action of the frizzled tissue polarity pathway. The second is a system that ensures the integrity of the prehair. Mutations and drugs that inhibit the actin cytoskeleton lead to the splitting of a single prehair into multiple smaller hairs. We report that large polyploid cells produce multiple hairs both because they form multiple independent prehair initiation centers and because the larger than normal hairs these cells produce have a tendency to split. We show that reducing cell size by starvation partially suppresses the phenotype seen in polyploid cells and that increasing apical cell surface area by mechanical stretching also results in the formation of multiple prehair initiation centers. We also show that the frizzled tissue polarity pathway is functional in large polyploid cells even if it is unable to restrict prehair initiation to a small region of the cell. We conclude that both of these cellular systems are limited in their ability to scale to accommodate larger cell size.

The domineering non-autonomy of frizzled and van Gogh clones in the Drosophila wing is a consequence of a disruption in local signaling

The frizzled (fz) gene is required for the development of distally pointing hairs on the Drosophila wing. It has been suggested that fz is needed for the propagation of a signal along the proximal distal axis of the wing. The directional domineering non-autonomy of fz clones could be a consequence of a failure in the propagation of this signal. We have tested this hypothesis in two ways. In one set of experiments we used the domineering non-autonomy of fz and Vang Gogh (Vang) clones to assess the direction of planar polarity signaling in the wing. prickle (pk) mutations alter wing hair polarity in a cell autonomous way, so pk cannot be altering a global polarity signal. However, we found that pk mutations altered the direction of the domineering non-autonomy of fz and Vang clones, arguing that this domineering non-autonomy is not due to an alteration in a global signal. In a second series of experiments we ablated cells in the pupal wing. We found that a lack of cells that could be propagating a long-range signal did not alter hair polarity. We suggest that fz and Vang clones result in altered levels of a locally acting signal and the domineering non-autonomy results from wild-type cells responding to this abnormal signal.

Genetic characterization of cytological region 77A-D harboring the presenilin gene of Drosophila melanogaster

We performed a systematic lethal mutagenesis of the genomic region uncovered by Df(3L)rdgC-co2 (cytological interval 77A-D) to isolate mutations in the single known Presenilin (Psn) gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Because this segment of chromosome III has not been systematically characterized before, inter se complementation testing of newly recovered mutants was carried out. A total of 79 lethal mutations were isolated, representing at least 17 lethal complementation groups, including one corresponding to the Psn gene. Fine structure mapping of the genomic region surrounding the Psn transcription unit by transgenic rescue experiments allowed us to localize two of the essential loci together with Psn within an approximately 12-kb genomic DNA region. One of these loci, located 3' to Psn, encodes a Drosophila protein related to the yeast 60S ribosomal protein L10 precursor. We also determined which of the newly recovered lethal mutant groups correspond to previously isolated lethal P-element insertions, lethal inversion breakpoints, and lethal polo gene mutants. Point mutations were identified in all five recovered Psn alleles, one of which results in a single amino acid substitution G-E at a conserved residue in the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail of the protein, suggesting an important functional role for this C-terminal domain of Presenilin. In addition, some viable mutations were recovered in the screen, including new alleles of the clipped and inturned loci.

The Drosophila tissue polarity gene starry night encodes a member of the protocadherin family

The tissue polarity genes control the polarity of hairs, bristles and ommatidia in the adult epidermis of Drosophila. We report here the identification of a new tissue polarity gene named starry night (stan). Mutations in this essential gene alter the polarity of cuticular structures in all regions of the adult body. The detailed polarity phenotype of stan on the wing suggested that it is most likely a component of the frizzled (fz) pathway. Consistent with this hypothesis, stan appears to be downstream of and required for fz function. We molecularly cloned stan and found that it encodes a huge protocadherin containing nine cadherin motifs, four EGF-like motifs, two laminin G motifs, and seven transmembrane domains. This suggests that Stan functions in signal reception, perhaps together with Fz.

The inturned protein of Drosophila melanogaster is a cytoplasmic protein located at the cell periphery in wing cells

The inturned (in) gene is a component of the frizzled (fz) signaling pathway that controls the polarity of hairs and bristles in the epidermis of Drosophila. It appears to act downstream of fz, which encodes a putative receptor for a tissue polarity signal. The in gene encodes a novel protein that had been suggested to contain two potential transmembrane domains. It has been suggested that the In protein interacts with the actin cytoskeleton to regulate the formation of the pupal wing prehairs that become adult hairs. The initiation of prehairs is normally restricted to the vicinity of the distal most vertex along the apical surface of the pupal wing cells. In an in mutant, prehairs initate at a variety of locations along the apical cell periphery. We have used immunofluorescence to study the subcellular localization of the In protein. When expressed in cultured cells, we found that In is a cytoplasmic protein. However, we found that it is localized in the vicinity of plasma membrane and the cortical actin cytoskeleton of Drosophila wing disc and pupal wing cells. Thus, in wing cells the In protein is localized to the region of the cell where it appears to function. This subcellular localization presumably requires the function of other proteins and may represent a regulatory mechanism. Our data suggest that fz does not play a major role in the subcellular localization of In. The In protein is notably insoluble in buffers containing high salt and nonionic detergents. This lack of solubility is significantly reduced in fz and mwh mutants, implying that it may be related to the mechanism of in function.

Frizzled-suc2 fusion gene studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The frizzled (fz) gene is required for development of planar tissue polarity in the epidermis of Drosophila melanogaster; it likely encodes an integral membrane protein that functions as a receptor for a tissue polarity-signaling molecule. On the basis of hydropathy analyses, it has been postulated that Fz protein contains seven transmembrane domains. Consistent with that model, the amino terminus of Fz was found to be extracellular, whereas the carboxyl terminus was intracellular. In the present study, the membrane topology of Fz was further examined in vivo by constructing various fz-suc2 fusion genes and analyzing their invertase activity in transformed yeast. We observed that plating efficiency and growth rate on sucrose media, as well as invertase secretion, were consistent with the proposed seven-pass model of Fz. This study provides the first experimental assessment of overall Fz topology.

Frizzled signaling and the developmental control of cell polarity

Within the last three years, Frizzled receptors have risen from obscurity to celebrity status owing to their functional identification as receptors for the ubiquitous family of secreted WNT signaling factors. However, the founding member of the Frizzled family, Drosophila Frizzled (FZ), was cloned almost a decade ago because of its role in regulating cell polarity within the plane of an epithelium. In this review, we consider the role of FZ in this intriguing context. We discuss recent progress towards elucidating mechanisms for the intracellular specification of planar polarity, and further review evidence for models of global polarity regulation at the tissue level. The data suggest that a genetic 'cassette', encoding a set of core signaling components, could pattern hair, bristle and ommatidial planar polarity in Drosophila, and that additional tissue-specific factors might explain the diversity of signal responses. Recently described examples from the nematode and frog suggest that the developmental control of cell polarity by FZ receptors might represent a functionally conserved signaling mechanism.

Van Gogh: a new Drosophila tissue polarity gene

Mutations in the Van Gogh gene result in the altered polarity of adult Drosophila cuticular structures. On the wing, Van Gogh mutations cause an altered polarity pattern that is typical of mutations that inactivate the frizzled signaling/signal transduction pathway. The phenotype however, differs from those seen previously, as the number of wing cells forming more than one hair is intermediate between that seen previously for typical frizzled-like or inturned-like mutations. Consistent with Van Gogh being involved in the function of the frizzled signaling/signal transduction pathway, Van Gogh mutations show strong interactions with mutations in frizzled and prickle. Mitotic clones of Van Gogh display domineering cell nonautonomy. In contrast to frizzled clones, Van Gogh clones alter the polarity of cells proximal (and in part anterior and posterior) but not distal to the clone. In further contrast to frizzled clones, Van Gogh clones cause neighboring wild-type hairs to point away from rather than toward the clone. This anti-frizzled type of domineering nonautonomy and the strong genetic interactions seen between frizzled and Van Gogh suggested the possibility that Van Gogh was required for the noncell autonomous function of frizzled. As a test of this possibility we induced frizzled clones in a Van Gogh mutant background and Van Gogh clones in a frizzled mutant background. In both cases the domineering nonautonomy was suppressed consistent with Van Gogh being essential for frizzled signaling.

Differential recruitment of Dishevelled provides signaling specificity in the planar cell polarity and Wingless signaling pathways

In Drosophila, planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is mediated by the receptor Frizzled (Fz) and transduced by Dishevelled (Dsh). Wingless (Wg) signaling also requires Dsh and may utilize DFz2 as a receptor. Using a heterologous system, we show that Dsh is recruited selectively to the membrane by Fz but not DFz2, and this recruitment depends on the DEP domain but not the PDZ domain in Dsh. A mutation in the DEP domain impairs both membrane localization and the function of Dsh in PCP signaling, indicating that translocation is important for function. Further genetic and molecular analyses suggest that conserved domains in Dsh function differently during PCP and Wg signaling, and that divergent intracellular pathways are activated. We propose that Dsh has distinct roles in PCP and Wg signaling. The PCP signal may selectively result in focal Fz activation and asymmetric relocalization of Dsh to the membrane, where Dsh effects cytoskeletal reorganization to orient prehair initiation.

Mutations in the cadherin superfamily member gene dachsous cause a tissue polarity phenotype by altering frizzled signaling

The adult cuticular wing of Drosophila is covered by an array of distally pointing hairs that reveals the planar polarity of the wing. We report here that mutations in dachsous disrupt this regular pattern, and do so by affecting frizzled signaling. dachsous encodes a large membrane protein that contains many cadherin domains and dachsous mutations cause deformed body parts. We found that mutations in dachsous also result in a tissue polarity phenotype that at the cellular level is similar to frizzled, dishevelled and prickle, as many cells form a single hair of abnormal polarity. Although their cellular phenotype is similar to frizzled, dishevelled and prickle, dachsous mutant wings display a unique and distinctive abnormal hair polarity pattern including regions of reversed polarity. The development of this pattern requires the function of frizzled pathway genes suggesting that in a dachsous mutant the frizzled pathway is functioning - but in an abnormal way. Genetic experiments indicated that dachsous was not required for the intracellular transduction of the frizzled signal. However, we found that dachsous clones disrupted the polarity of neighboring wild-type cells suggesting the possibility that dachsous affected the intercellular signaling function of frizzled. Consistent with this hypothesis we found that frizzled clones in a dachsous mutant background displayed enhanced domineering non-autonomy, and that the anatomical direction of this domineering non-autonomy was altered in regions of dachsous wings that have abnormal hair polarity. The direction of this domineering nonautonomy was coincident with the direction of the abnormal hair polarity. We conclude that dachsous causes a tissue polarity phenotype because it alters the direction of frizzled signaling.

Distinct roles for the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons in the morphogenesis of epidermal hairs during wing development in Drosophila

We have found that the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons have overlapping, but distinct roles in the morphogenesis of epidermal hairs during Drosophila wing development. The function of both the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons appears to be required for the growth of wing hairs, as treatment of cultured pupal wings with either cytochalasin D or vinblastine was able to slow prehair extension. At higher doses a complete blockage of hair development was seen. The microtubule cytoskeleton is also required for localizing prehair initiation to the distalmost part of the cell. Disruption of the microtubule cytoskeleton resulted in the development of multiple prehairs along the apical cell periphery. The multiple hair cells were a phenocopy of mutations in the inturned group of tissue polarity genes, which are downstream targets of the frizzled signaling/signal transduction pathway. The actin cytoskeleton also plays a role in maintaining prehair integrity during prehair development as treatment of pupal wings with cytochalasin D, which inhibits actin polymerization, led to branched prehairs. This is a phenocopy of mutations in crinkled, and suggests mutations that cause branched hairs will be in genes that encode products that interact with the actin cytoskeleton.

Tissue polarity points from cells that have higher Frizzled levels towards cells that have lower Frizzled levels

BACKGROUND

The frizzled (fz) gene of Drosophila encodes the founding member of the large family of receptors for the Wnt family of signaling molecules. It was originally studied in the adult epidermis, where it plays a key role in the generation of tissue polarity. Mutations in components of the fz signal transduction pathway disrupt tissue polarity; on the wing, hairs normally point distally but their polarity is altered by these mutations.

RESULTS

We devised a method to induce a gradient of fz expression with the highest levels near the distal wing tip. The result was a large area of proximally pointing hairs in this region. This reversal of polarity was seen when fz expression was induced just before the start of hair morphogenesis when polarity is established, suggesting that the gradient of Fz protein acted fairly directly to reverse hair polarity. A similar induction of the dishevelled (dsh) gene, which acts cell autonomously and functions downstream of fz in the generation of tissue polarity, resulted in a distinct tissue polarity phenotype, but no reversal of polarity; this argues that fz signaling was required for polarity reversal. Furthermore, the finding that functional dsh was required for the reversal of polarity argues that the reversal requires normal fz signal transduction.

CONCLUSIONS

The data suggest that cells sense the level of Fz protein on neighboring cells and use this information in order to polarize themselves. A polarizing signal is transmitted from cells with higher Fz levels to cells with lower levels. Our observations enable us to propose a general mechanism to explain how Wnts polarize target cells.

Planar polarization of Drosophila and vertebrate epithelia

Our understanding of the actin and microtubule rearrangements that generate planar polarity in Drosophila and in vertebrate epithelia has been extended by recent discoveries. Three different Rho family proteins have been shown to mediate polarization in the wing and the eye of Drosophila. In vertebrates, the importance of myosin VIIa has been uncovered by mutations that cause defects in planar polarization in the ear. Advances in our understanding of the Frizzled pathway, which coordinates planar polarization in Drosophila, are moving the field closer to understanding the links between signal transduction and polarized cytoskeletal reorganization.

Drosophila tissue polarity requires the cell-autonomous activity of the fuzzy gene, which encodes a novel transmembrane protein

The tissue polarity gene fuzzy (fy) has two roles in the development of Drosophila wing hairs. One is to specify the correct orientation of the hair by limiting the site of prehair initiation to the distal vertex of the wing cell. The other is to control wing cell hair number by maintaining the integrity of the cytoskeletal components that direct hair development. The requirement for fy in these processes is temperature dependent, as the amorphic fy phenotype is cold sensitive. Analysis of mosaic wings has shown that the fy gene product functions cell autonomously. We have cloned the fy transcript, which encodes a novel four-pass transmembrane protein that shares significant homology with proteins encoded by vertebrate cDNAs. The fourth putative transmembrane domain does not appear to play a significant role in tissue polarity as it is deleted in a weak fy hypomorph. Expression of the fy transcript is developmentally regulated and peaks sharply at the time of wing cell pre-hair initiation.