Apical-basal polarity, Wnt signaling and vertebrate organogenesis

Abstract

Wnt proteins elicit several distinct signal transduction cascades and regulate multiple cellular processes that have proven essential for embryonic development in all metazoans investigated. During embryonic development, epithelial cells become polarized along two axes: apical/basal and within the plane of the tissue. Growing evidence suggests that polarization along each axis is essential for normal embryonic development and that this polarization is regulated in part by the different branches of the Wnt pathway. Here, we review the role of A/B cell polarity in vertebrate organogenesis with a focus on the involvement of canonical Wnt signaling in this process.