Premium
Microtubule Organization and Function in Epithelial Cells
Author(s) -
Müsch Anne
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
traffic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.677
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1600-0854
pISSN - 1398-9219
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2003.00149.x
Subject(s) - microtubule , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , centrosome , cell polarity , microtubule organizing center , polarity (international relations) , morphogenesis , basal body , microtubule nucleation , epithelial polarity , microtubule associated protein , cell , flagellum , cell cycle , biochemistry , gene
Microtubules are essential for many aspects of polarity in multicellular organisms, ranging from the asymmetric distribution of cell‐fate determinants in the one‐cell embryo to the transient polarity generated in migrating fibroblasts. Epithelial cells exhibit permanent cell polarity characterized by apical and basolateral surface domains of distinct protein and lipid composition that are segregated by tight junctions. They are also endowed with a microtubule network that reflects the asymmetry of their cell surface: microtubule minus‐ends face the apical‐ and microtubule plus‐ends the basal domain. Strikingly, the formation of distinct surface domains during epithelial differentiation is accompanied by the re‐organization of microtubules from a uniform array focused at the centrosome to the noncentrosomal network that aligns along the apico‐basolateral polarity axis. The significance of this coincidence for epithelial morphogenesis and the signaling mechanisms that drive microtubule repolymerization in developing epithelia remain major unresolved questions that we are only beginning to address. Studies in cultured polarized epithelial cells have established that microtubules serve as tracks that facilitate targeted vesicular transport. Novel findings suggest, moreover, that microtubule‐based transport promotes protein sorting, and even the generation of transport carriers in the endo‐ and exocytic pathways.