Aurora A depletion reveals centrosome-independent polarization mechanism in Caenorhabditis elegans

ELife
K. KlinkertPierre Gönczy

Abstract

How living systems break symmetry in an organized manner is a fundamental question in biology. In wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans zygotes, symmetry breaking during anterior-posterior axis specification is guided by centrosomes, resulting in anterior-directed cortical flows and a single posterior PAR-2 domain. We uncover that C. elegans zygotes depleted of the Aurora A kinase AIR-1 or lacking centrosomes entirely usually establish two posterior PAR-2 domains, one at each pole. We demonstrate that AIR-1 prevents symmetry breaking early in the cell cycle, whereas centrosomal AIR-1 instructs polarity initiation thereafter. Using triangular microfabricated chambers, we establish that bipolarity of air-1(RNAi) embryos occurs effectively in a cell-shape and curvature-dependent manner. Furthermore, we develop an integrated physical description of symmetry breaking, wherein local PAR-2-dependent weakening of the actin cortex, together with mutual inhibition of anterior and posterior PAR proteins, provides a mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking without centrosomes.

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Citations

May 28, 2020·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Dureen Samandar Eweis, Julie Plastino
Jun 5, 2020·The Journal of Cell Biology·Bernardo Chapa-Y-LazoMasanori Mishima
Aug 25, 2020·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Alicia G GubiedaJosana Rodriguez
Jul 1, 2020·Development·Bharath Sunchu, Clemens Cabernard
Jul 1, 2020·Biochemical Society Transactions·Sukriti Kapoor, Sachin Kotak
Feb 9, 2021·Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology·Amelia J Kim, Erik E Griffin
Apr 11, 2020·Developmental Cell·Sasha De HenauTobias B Dansen
Dec 7, 2020·Current Opinion in Structural Biology·Cayetano Gonzalez
May 6, 2020·Developmental Cell·Aaron Z A Schwartz, Jeremy Nance
Aug 10, 2020·Current Opinion in Cell Biology·Melissa K Delgado, Clemens Cabernard
Jul 19, 2021·Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology·Kenji Kimura, Fumio Motegi
Dec 3, 2021·Current Biology : CB·Hélène DoerflingerDaniel St Johnston

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
GTPase
transgenic
environmental stress
confocal microscopy

Software Mentioned

ImageJ
Matlab
PIVlab

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