Epithelial cell polarization

Nelson, W.J. Hammerton, R.W. (1989). A membrane-cytoskeletal complex containing Na, K -AT-Pase, ankyrin, and fodrin in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK cells) Implications for the biogenesis of epithelial cell polarity. J. Cell Biol. 108, 893-902. 

Fig. 6.3. Electron micrograph revealing the location of larvae in polarized Caco-2 monolayers grown on filter inserts (ManWarren etal., 1997). Apical microvilli provide evidence of epithelial cell polarization. Epithelial cell cytoplasm is evident above and below the larva. Bar = 2 pm. The position of the filter substrate is marked (F). Photomicrograph prepared by S. Pearce-Kelling and J. Ailing, Cornell University. 

MDCK Dog kidney epithelial cells Polarized cells with low intrinsic expression of transporters Suitable cell fine for transfections... 

Royer C, Lu X (2011) Epithelial cell polarity a major gatekeeper against cancer Cell Death Differ 18 1470-1477... 

Hershberg RM, Mayer LF Antigen processing and presentation by intestinal epithelial cells — Polarity and complexity. Immunol Today 2000 21 123-128. 

Gan YJ, Chodosh J, Morgan A, Sixbey JW. Epithelial cell polarization is a determinant in the infectious outcome of immunoglobulin A-mediated entry by Epstein-Barr virus. I Virol 1997 71(l) 519-26. 

In addition to major organs, such as a heart, lung, and liver, kidney- [30], splenon-[85, 86] and breast- [87] on-a-chip devices have been developed. Fig. 9 shows the schematics of these three devices. Kidney-on-a-chip devices include a porous membrane where kidney cells and epithelial are cultured in each side. This membrane, which is similar to the one used in the lung-on-a-chip device, consists of the central channel and two sub-channels—an apical luminal channel and a basal interstitial space. Compared to the traditional microfluidic system, the exposure of the epithelial cell layer to the certain shear stress generated by inflow mimics the in vivo kidney tubules, resulting in promotion of epithelial cell polarization and primary cilia formation. This platform is useful for the study of kidney toxicity during drug development. 

Bulgakova, N. A., and E. Knust. (2009). The Crumbs complex from epithelial-cell polarity to retinal degeneration. / Cell Sci, Vol.122. pp.2587-2596. 

Tepass, U., Tanentzapf, G., Ward, R. Fehon, R. (2001). Epithelial cell polarity and cell jimctions in Drosophila. Annu Rev Genet 35, 747-784. 

Hanzel, D., Nabi, I. R., Zurzolo, C., Powell, S. K., and Rodriguez-Boulan, E. (1991) New techniques lead to advances in epithelial cell polarity. Semin. Cell Biol. 2, 341-353. 

ENaC is located in the apical membrane of polarized epithelial cells where it mediates Na+ transport across tight epithelia [3], The most important tight epithelia expressing ENaC include the distal nephron of the kidney, the respiratory epithelium, and the distal colon. The basic function of ENaC in polarized epithelial cells is to allow vectorial transcellular transport of Na+ ions. This transepithelial Na+ transport through a cell involves... 

Bundles of parallel actin filaments with uniform polarity. The microvilli of intestinal epithelial cells (enterocytes) are packed with actin filaments that are attached to the overlying plasma membrane through a complex composed of a 110-kD protein and calmodulin. The actin filaments are attached to each other through fimbrin (68 kD) and villin (95 kD). The actin bundles that emerge out of the roots of microvilli disperse horizontally to form a filamentous complex, the terminal web, in which several cytoskeletal proteins, spectrin (fodrin), myosin, actinin, and tropomyosin are present. Actin in the terminal web also forms a peripheral ring, which is associated with the plasma membrane on the lateral surfaces of the enterocyte (see Figure 5, p. 24). 

The cytoskeleton is involved in the maintenance of cell shape and cytoplasmic processes (e.g., microvilli). In polarized epithelial cells, distinct cyto-cortical cytoskeletal complexes are associated with the apical and basal-lateral domains of the plasma membrane (Rodriguez-Boulan and Nelson, 1989 Mays et al., 1994). 

Mays, R.W., Beck, K.A.. Nelson, W.J. (1994). Organization and function of the cytoskeleton in polarized epithelial cells a component of the protein sorting machinery. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 6, 16-24. 

Rodriguez-Boulan, E. Nelson, W.J. (1989). Morphogenesis of the polarized epithelial cell phenotype. Science 245, 718-725. 

Figure 6, Polarized epithelial cells in culture. Epithelial cells in culture possess an apical surface with microvilli that faces the tissue culture medium (equivalent to the lumenal side of the cells in vivo), and a basolateral surface that faces the tissue culture dish (equivalent to the blood side of the cells in vivo).

Aist JR, Liang H, Berns MW 1993 Astral and spindle forces in PtK2 cells during anaphase B a laser microbeam study. J Cell Sci 104 1207-1216 Bohm H, Brinkmann V, Drab M, Henske A, Kurzchalia TV 1997 Mammalian homologues of C. elegant PAR-1 are asymmetrically localized in epithelial cells and may influence their polarity. Curr Biol 7 603-606... 

R Kinne. Epithelial transport The interplay between ion gradients and cell polarity. In F Alvarado, CH van Os, eds. Ion Gradient-Coupled Transport. Inserm Symposium No. 26. New York Elsevier, 1986, pp 255-264. 

Given that epithelial cells have been shown to be a source of chemokines at mucosal sites (Li et al., 1999 Santy et al, 1999 Song et al, 1999), it will be important to define the expression and function of chemokines and their receptors in the intestinal microenvironment during nematode infection, and to determine what effects, if any, these have on the polarization or regulation of anti-nematode responses. 

Hu, M. and R. Borchardt. Mechanism of L-alpha-methyldopa transport through a monolayer of polarized human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2)., Pharm. Res. 1990, 7, 1313-1319... 

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