Neuroepithelial Polarity Research Articles

The Roles of Par3, Par6, and aPKC Polarity Proteins in Normal Neurodevelopment and in Neurodegenerative and Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Normal neural circuits and functions depend on proper neuronal differentiation, migration, synaptic plasticity, and maintenance. Abnormalities in these processes underlie various neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. Neural development and maintenance are regulated by many proteins. Among them are Par3, Par6 (partitioning defective 3 and 6), and aPKC (atypical protein kinase C) families of evolutionarily conserved polarity proteins. These proteins perform versatile functions by forming tripartite or other combinations of protein complexes, which hereafter are collectively referred to as "Par complexes." In this review, we summarize the major findings on their biophysical and biochemical properties in cell polarization and signaling pathways. We next summarize their expression and localization in the nervous system as well as their versatile functions in various aspects of neurodevelopment, including neuroepithelial polarity, neurogenesis, neuronal migration, neurite differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and memory. These versatile functions rely on the fundamental roles of Par complexes in cell polarity in distinct cellular contexts. We also discuss how cell polarization may correlate with subcellular polarization in neurons. Finally, we review the involvement of Par complexes in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. While emerging evidence indicates that Par complexes are essential for proper neural development and maintenance, many questions on their in vivo functions have yet to be answered. Thus, Par3, Par6, and aPKC continue to be important research topics to advance neuroscience.

MARCKS phosphorylation by PKC strongly impairs cell polarity in the chick neural plate.

Neurulation involves a complex coordination of cellular movements that are in great part based on the modulation of the actin cytoskeleton. MARCKS, an F-actin-binding protein and the major substrate for PKC, is necessary for gastrulation and neurulation morphogenetic movements in mice, frogs, and fish. We previously showed that this protein accumulates at the apical region of the closing neural plate in chick embryos, and here further explore its role in this process and how it is regulated by PKC phosphorylation. PKC activation by PMA caused extensive neural tube closure defects in cultured chick embryos, together with MARCKS phosphorylation and redistribution to the cytoplasm. This was concomitant with an evident disruption of neural plate cell polarity and extensive apical cell extrusion. This effect was not due to actomyosin hypercontractility, but it was reproduced upon MARCKS knockdown. Interestingly, the overexpression of a nonphosphorylatable form of MARCKS was able to revert the cellular defects observed in the neural plate after PKC activation. Altogether, these results suggest that MARCKS function during neurulation would be to maintain neuroepithelial polarity through the stabilization of subapical F-actin, a function that appears to be counteracted by PKC activation.

Mesoderm is required for coordinated cell movements within zebrafish neural plate in vivo

BackgroundMorphogenesis of the zebrafish neural tube requires the coordinated movement of many cells in both time and space. A good example of this is the movement of the cells in the zebrafish neural plate as they converge towards the dorsal midline before internalizing to form a neural keel. How these cells are regulated to ensure that they move together as a coherent tissue is unknown. Previous work in other systems has suggested that the underlying mesoderm may play a role in this process but this has not been shown directly in vivo.ResultsHere we analyze the roles of subjacent mesoderm in the coordination of neural cell movements during convergence of the zebrafish neural plate and neural keel formation. Live imaging demonstrates that the normal highly coordinated movements of neural plate cells are lost in the absence of underlying mesoderm and the movements of internalization and neural tube formation are severely disrupted. Despite this, neuroepithelial polarity develops in the abnormal neural primordium but the resulting tissue architecture is very disorganized.ConclusionsWe show that the movements of cells in the zebrafish neural plate are highly coordinated during the convergence and internalization movements of neurulation. Our results demonstrate that the underlying mesoderm is required for these coordinated cell movements in the zebrafish neural plate in vivo.

Nok‐mediated RPE integrity is essential for retinal epithelial polarity and cytoarchitecture

In vertebrates, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the retina are derived from different parts of the optical vesicle. Previous studies suggest that the RPE plays a role in the development of retina by unknown mechanisms. The recent findings of mutations of epithelial polarity genes such as nok that cause defects in both the RPE and the retina further energizes the research on whether and how the RPE participates in retinal development. Here, we generated a transgenic fish line (pt106) in which Nok function is restored in the RPE but not in the neural retina. The characterization of pt106 revealed that the RPE plays an essential role in maintaining proper polarity of the retinal neuroepithelium. This polarity maintenance is largely dependent on Nok‐mediated RPE integrity but not on retinal expression of Nok. In addition, we found that the restoration of RPE integrity has a dramatic positive effect on retinal cellular pattern formation during neurogenesis. Our results suggest a pathway that governs the cellular pattern formation of the neural retina: Nok‐mediated RPE integrity ensures the retinal neuroepithelium to polarize correctly; the correct retinal epithelial polarity then underlies proper migration and spatial arrangements of retinal cells during neurogenesis. Our study is the first to show the essentiality of RPE integrity for retinal neuroepithelial polarity and cellular pattern formation.

Polarization and orientation of retinal ganglion cells in vivo

In the absence of external cues, neurons in vitro polarize by using intrinsic mechanisms. For example, cultured hippocampal neurons extend arbitrarily oriented neurites and then one of these, usually the one nearest the centrosome, begins to grow more quickly than the others. This neurite becomes the axon as it accumulates molecular components of the apical junctional complex. All the other neurites become dendrites. It is unclear, however, whether neurons in vivo, which differentiate within a polarized epithelium, break symmetry by using similar intrinsic mechanisms. To investigate this, we use four-dimensional microscopy of developing retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in live zebrafish embryos. We find that the situation is indeed very different in vivo, where axons emerge directly from uniformly polarized cells in the absence of other neurites. In vivo, moreover, components of the apical complex do not localize to the emerging axon, nor does the centrosome predict the site of axon emergence. Mosaic analysis in four dimensions, using mutants in which neuroepithelial polarity is disrupted, indicates that extrinsic factors such as access to the basal lamina are critical for normal axon emergence from RGCs in vivo.

PAR3 acts as a molecular organizer to define the apical domain of chick neuroepithelial cells

Neural progenitors in the vertebrate nervous system are fully polarized epithelial cells, with intercellular junctions at the apical region. These progenitor cells remain within the neuroepithelium throughout neurogenesis, and will ultimately give rise to all the neurons in the mature nervous system. We have addressed the role of the PAR polarity complex in vertebrate neuroepithelial polarity and show that PAR3 functions as the initial scaffold to assemble and organize the PAR complex at the apical region of neuroepithelial cells, coordinating also the recruitment of additional polarity complexes and junction-associated proteins to the same region, while restricting other polarity proteins to the basolateral membrane. We propose that PAR3 acts as a molecular organizer to connect the acquisition of apico-basal polarity with the positioning and formation of junctional structures in neuroepithelial cells, a function of upmost importance for the morphogenesis of embryonic neural tissue and the process of neurogenesis.

Absence of the tight junctional protein AF-6 disrupts epithelial cell–cell junctions and cell polarity during mouse development

Background: The establishment, maintenance and rearrangement of junctions between epithelial cells are extremely important in many developmental, physiological and pathological processes. AF-6 is a putative Ras effector; it is also a component of tight and adherens junctions, and has been shown to bind both Ras and the tight-junction protein ZO-1. In the mouse, AF-6 is encoded by the Af6 gene. As cell–cell junctions are important in morphogenesis, we generated a null mutation in the murine Af6 locus to test the hypothesis that lack of AF-6 function would cause epithelial abnormalities.Results: Although cell–cell junctions are thought to be important in early embryogenesis, homozygous mutant embryos were morphologically indistinguishable from wild-type embryos through 6.5 days post coitum (dpc) and were able to establish all three germ layers. The earliest morphological abnormalities were observed in the embryonic ectoderm of mutant embryos at 7.5 dpc. The length of the most apical cell–cell junctions was reduced, and basolateral surfaces of those cells were separated by multiple gaps. Cells of the embryonic ectoderm were less polarized as assessed by histological criteria and lateral localization of an apical marker. Mutant embryos died by 10 dpc, probably as a result of placental failure.Conclusions: AF-6 is a critical regulator of cell–cell junctions during mouse development. The loss of neuroepithelial polarity in mutants is consistent with a loss of efficacy of the cell–cell junctions that have a critical role in establishing apical/basolateral asymmetry.

Motor neuron pathfinding following rhombomere reversals in the chick embryo hindbrain.

Motor neurons are segmentally organised in the developing chick hindbrain, with groups of neurons occupying pairs of hindbrain segments or rhombomeres. The branchiomotor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve occupies rhombomeres 2 and 3 (r2 and r3), that of the facial nerve r4 and r5, and that of the glossopharyngeal nerve r6 and r7. Branchiomotor neuron cell bodies lie within the basal plate, forming columns on either side of the ventral midline floor plate. Axons originating in rhombomeres 2, 4 and 6 grow laterally (dorsally) towards the exit points located in the alar plates of these rhombomeres, while axons originating in odd-numbered rhombomeres 3 and 5 grow laterally and then rostrally, crossing a rhombomere boundary to reach their exit point. Examination of the trajectories of motor axons in odd-numbered segments at late stages of development (19-25) showed stereotyped pathways, in which axons grew laterally before making a sharp turn rostrally. During the initial phase of outgrowth (stage 14-15), however, axons had meandering courses and did not grow in a directed fashion towards their exit point. When r3 or r5 was transplanted with reversed rostrocaudal polarity prior to motor axon outgrowth, the majority of axons grew to their appropriate, rostral exit point, despite the inverted neuroepithelial polarity. In r3 reversals, however, there was a considerable increase in the normally small number of axons that grew out via the caudal, r4 exit point. These findings are discussed with relevance to the factors involved in motor neuron specification and axon outgrowth in the developing hindbrain.