Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 331, Issue 6022, Pages 1336-1339Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1199633
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Funding
- Stanford Graduate Fellowship
- NSF
- NIH [GM035527, GM56169]
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
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A fundamental characteristic of metazoans is the formation of a simple, polarized epithelium. In higher animals, the structural integrity and functional polarization of simple epithelia require a cell-cell adhesion complex that contains a classical cadherin, the Wnt-signaling protein beta-catenin and the actin-binding protein alpha-catenin. We show that the non-metazoan Dictyostelium discoideum forms a polarized epithelium that is essential for multicellular development. Although D. discoideum lacks a cadherin homolog, we identify an alpha-catenin ortholog that binds a beta-catenin-related protein. Both proteins are essential for formation of the epithelium, polarized protein secretion, and proper multicellular morphogenesis. Thus, the organizational principles of metazoan multicellularity may be more ancient than previously recognized, and the role of the catenins in cell polarity predates the evolution of Wnt signaling and classical cadherins.
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