7 - Cell Polarity II Flashcards
What hypothesis is the basis of modern day developmental genetics?
Cell can generate daughters that are intrinsically different.
What are the 2 main routes in which sister cells can have different fates?
1 - The mother cells could divide to generate daughters that have inherited different components.
2 - Daughters could be equal and birth and become different due to exposure to different environmental signals.
What are some important steps in generating polarity and cell fate decisions?
- Establishing the axis of polarity
- A mitotic spindle positioned along the axis
- Cell fate determinants distributed differentially to the daughter cells.
What is the role of PAR proteins in cell polarity networks?
They form the core.
What is the output of cell polarity networks?
One of mutual antagonism with the establishment of opposing and elementary membrane domains.
What happens in the early development of c.elegans?
A series of asymmetric cell divisions.
When does polarisation start?
When the sperm enters the oocyte.
What does the position of entry of the sperm define?
the posterior end of the zygote or the PO cell.
What does the zygote/PO cell do after sperm entry?
It divides asymmetrically along the anterior-posterior axis - This produces a large anterior cell (AB) and a smaller posterior cell (P1).
Where did the discovery of PAR genes come from?
genetic screening to identify key players in the asymmetric division.
When in symmetry broken in cells?
On fertilisation when the sperm delivers the microtubule organising centre (MTOC), which becomes the posterior pole and so defines the axis of polarity.
Why are Par1 and Par2 recruited?
To antagonise the anterior Par proteins resulting in the distinct localisations of the par proteins.
What Par proteins are at the anterior cortex?
Par3, Par6 and aPkc
What Par proteins are at the posterior cortex?
Par1 and Par2
what are neuroblasts?
Progenitor cells
