PUBLICATION
Notch-Mediated Determination of Hair-Bundle Polarity in Mechanosensory Hair Cells of the Zebrafish Lateral Line
- Authors
- Jacobo, A., Dasgupta, A., Erzberger, A., Siletti, K., Hudspeth, A.J.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-191102-9
- Date
- 2019
- Source
- Current biology : CB 29(21): 3579-3587.e7 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Dasgupta, Agnik, Erzberger, Anna, Hudspeth, A.J. (Jim)
- Keywords
- Emx2, bistability, delta, lateral inhibition, neuromast, planar cell polarity
- MeSH Terms
-
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- Hair Cells, Auditory/metabolism
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics*
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism
- PubMed
- 31668618 Full text @ Curr. Biol.
Abstract
The development of mechanosensory epithelia, such as those of the auditory and vestibular systems, results in the precise orientation of mechanosensory hair cells. After division of a precursor cell in the zebrafish's lateral line, the daughter hair cells differentiate with opposite mechanical sensitivity. Through a combination of theoretical and experimental approaches, we show that Notch1a-mediated lateral inhibition produces a bistable switch that reliably gives rise to cell pairs of opposite polarity. Using a mathematical model of the process, we predict the outcome of several genetic and chemical alterations to the system, which we then confirm experimentally. We show that Notch1a downregulates the expression of Emx2, a transcription factor known to be involved in polarity specification, and acts in parallel with the planar-cell-polarity system to determine the orientation of hair bundles. By analyzing the effect of simultaneous genetic perturbations to Notch1a and Emx2, we infer that the gene-regulatory network determining cell polarity includes an undiscovered polarity effector.
Genes / Markers
Figure Gallery (4 images)
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping