Cearns, MD;
Escuin, S;
Alexandre, P;
Greene, ND;
Copp, AJ;
(2016)
Microtubules, polarity and vertebrate neural tube morphogenesis.
Journal of Anatomy
, 229
(1)
pp. 63-74.
10.1111/joa.12468.
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Abstract
Microtubules (MTs) are key cellular components, long known to participate in morphogenetic events that shape the developing embryo. However, the links between the cellular functions of MTs, their effects on cell shape and polarity, and their role in large-scale morphogenesis remain poorly understood. Here, these relationships were examined with respect to two strategies for generating the vertebrate neural tube: bending and closure of the mammalian neural plate; and cavitation of the teleost neural rod. The latter process has been compared with 'secondary' neurulation that generates the caudal spinal cord in mammals. MTs align along the apico-basal axis of the mammalian neuroepithelium early in neural tube closure, participating functionally in interkinetic nuclear migration, which indirectly impacts on cell shape. Whether MTs play other functional roles in mammalian neurulation remains unclear. In the zebrafish, MTs are important for defining the neural rod midline prior to its cavitation, both by localizing apical proteins at the tissue midline and by orienting cell division through a mirror-symmetric MT apparatus that helps to further define the medial localization of apical polarity proteins. Par proteins have been implicated in centrosome positioning in neuroepithelia as well as in the control of polarized morphogenetic movements in the neural rod. Understanding of MT functions during early nervous system development has so far been limited, partly by techniques that fail to distinguish 'cause' from 'effect'. Future developments will likely rely on novel ways to selectively impair MT function in order to investigate the roles they play.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Microtubules, polarity and vertebrate neural tube morphogenesis |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/joa.12468 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa.12468 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2016 Anatomical Society. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Cearns, M. D., Escuin, S., Alexandre, P., Greene, N. D. E. and Copp, A. J. (2016), Microtubules, polarity and vertebrate neural tube morphogenesis. Journal of Anatomy, 229: 63–74. doi: 10.1111/joa.12468], which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa.12468. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. |
| Keywords: | Microtubules, amphibia, zebrafish, cell polarity, morphogenesis, mouse, chick, neural tube, neurulation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Biology and Cancer Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1481240 |
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