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Putting the model to the test: are APC proteins essential for neuronal polarity, axon outgrowth, and axon targeting?

¹ Department of Biology, ² Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and ³ Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Correspondence to M. Peifer: peifer{at}unc.edu

The highly polarized architecture of neurons is important for their function. Experimental data based on dominant-negative approaches suggest that the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), a regulator of Wnt signaling and the cytoskeleton, regulates polarity of neuroectodermal precursors and neurons, helping specify one neurite as the axon, promoting its outgrowth, and guiding axon pathfinding. However, such dominant-negative approaches might affect processes in which APC is not essential. We completely removed both APCs from Drosophila melanogaster larval neural precursors and neurons, testing whether APCs play universal roles in neuronal polarity. Surprisingly, APCs are not essential for asymmetric cell division or the stereotyped division axis of central brain (CB) neuroblasts, although they do affect cell cycle progression and spindle architecture. Likewise, CB, lobular plug, and mushroom body neurons do not require APCs for polarization, axon outgrowth, or, in the latter two cases, axon targeting. These data suggest that proposed cytoskeletal roles for APCs in mammals should be reassessed using loss of function tools.

Abbreviations used in this paper: APC, adenomatous polyposis coli; CB, central brain; GMC, ganglion mother cell; MARCM, mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker; MB, mushroom body; MT, microtubule; NB, neuroblast.

© 2008 Rusan et al. This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jcb.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).

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Related In this Issue article

APC ain't always necessary for axons

Ruth Williams
J. Cell Biol. 2008 183: 172-173. [Full Text] [PDF]

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• Williams, R. (2008). APC ain't always necessary for axons. JCB 183: 172-173 [Full Text]  

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