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Asymmetric cell division

Asymmetric division allows cells in a developing organism to generate progeny that have distinct fates. The daughter cells can inherit different cell fate determinants and/or be of different sizes - both of which can determine the developmental pathway that is subsequently followed. Asymmetric cell division is brought about by cytoskeletal rearrangements that direct the positioning of the mitotic spindle and the cleavage plane. In a Commentary on p. 2257, Julia Kaltschmidt and Andrea Brand discuss studies that are revealing how this is controlled. Several different mechanisms appear to exist. Asymmetric division of the C. elegans zygote, for instance, is due to repositioning of the mitotic spindle by polarity factors such as PAR-2 and PAR-3, which generate asymmetry in the net forces on spindle poles by regulating microtubule dynamics. In Drosophila neuroblasts, by contrast, the spindle is asymmetric rather than simply repositioned, and this asymmetry is induced by a G protein signalling pathway involving the protein Inscuteable and its partner, Pins.

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Asymmetric cell division: microtubule dynamics and spindle asymmetry

Julia A. Kaltschmidt and Andrea H. Brand
JCS 2002 115: 2257-2264. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?