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The planar cell-polarity gene stbm regulates cell behaviour and cell fate in vertebrate embryos

Nature Cell Biology volume 4, pages 20–25 (2002)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 June 2002

Abstract

The gene strabismus (stbm)/Van Gogh (Vang) functions in the planar cell-polarity pathway in Drosophila. As the existence of such a pathway in vertebrates has not been firmly established, we investigated the functions and signalling activities encoded by stbm in vertebrate embryos. In regard to cell fate, inhibition of Stbm function in zebrafish embryos leads to reduction of anterior neural markers, whereas gain of function leads to a rise in the levels of these markers. In regard to cell behaviour, both gain-of-function and loss-of-function assays reveal a role for Stbm in mediating cell movements during gastrulation. Mechanistically, Stbm inhibits Wnt-mediated activation of β-catenin-dependent transcription while promoting phosphorylation of c-Jun- and AP-1-dependent transcription. This complex effect on intracellular signalling pathways probably involves dishevelled (dsh), as Stbm was found to interact with the Dsh protein, and as Dsh is known to function in both planar cell-polarity and β-catenin pathways in Drosophila.

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Figure 1: Sequence alignment of Stbm reveals four potential transmembrane domains (TM1, TM2, TM3, TM4).
Figure 2: Temporal and spatial expression pattern of stbm in zebrafish and Xenopus.
Figure 3: stbm is required for neural gene expression.
Figure 4: stbm antagonizes the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway but activates JNK signaling.
Figure 5: Stbm modulates convergent extension movements through its C-terminal domain.
Figure 6: Stbm binds Dsh and changes its subcellular localization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Kimelman and T. Lepage for the zebrafish library, R. Harland for the Xenopus library, C. Moen for the Hox probe, J. Miller for Dsh constructs and M. Veeman, K. Takemaru, A. Kaykas, and C. Thorpe for review of the manuscript. M.P. is an associate and R.T.M. an Investigator of the HHMI.

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  1. Department of Pharmacology and Center for Developmental Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Box 357370, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Maiyon Park & Randall T. Moon

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Correspondence to Randall T. Moon.

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Park, M., Moon, R. The planar cell-polarity gene stbm regulates cell behaviour and cell fate in vertebrate embryos. Nat Cell Biol 4, 20–25 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb716

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