Meeting Abstract

S3.1-4  Saturday, Jan. 4 09:30  Planar cell polarity and the developmental control of cell behavior WALLINGFORD, John; HHMI/UT, Austin wallingford@austin.utexas.edu

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. We will present recent work aimed at understanding how PCP proteins act to integrate developmental patterns with the fundamental machinery of cells.