Noncanonical Wnt/PCP signaling during vertebrate gastrulation

Abstract

The branch of the Wnt pathway, related to planar cell polarity signaling in Drosophila, is fundamental not only to the establishment of tissue polarity but also to a variety of morphogenetic processes in vertebrates. The genetic pathway has been noted for its similarity as well as divergence of between vertebrates and Drosophila. This review focuses on issues related to the complexity of the output of the planar cell polarity pathway during gastrulation in zebrafish and Xenopus and, to a lesser extent, during gastrulation/neurulation in mice.