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Stansak KL, Baum LD, Ghosh S, Thapa P, Vanga V, Walters BJ. PCP auto count: a novel Fiji/ImageJ plug-in for automated quantification of planar cell polarity and cell counting. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1394031. [PMID: 38827526 PMCID: PMC11140036 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1394031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Introdution: During development, planes of cells give rise to complex tissues and organs. The proper functioning of these tissues is critically dependent on proper inter- and intra-cellular spatial orientation, a feature known as planar cell polarity (PCP). To study the genetic and environmental factors affecting planar cell polarity, investigators must often manually measure cell orientations, which is a time-consuming endeavor. To automate cell counting and planar cell polarity data collection we developed a Fiji/ImageJ plug-in called PCP Auto Count (PCPA). Methods: PCPA analyzes binary images and identifies "chunks" of white pixels that contain "caves" of infiltrated black pixels. For validation, inner ear sensory epithelia including cochleae and utricles from mice were immunostained for βII-spectrin and imaged with a confocal microscope. Images were preprocessed using existing Fiji functionality to enhance contrast, make binary, and reduce noise. An investigator rated PCPA cochlear hair cell angle measurements for accuracy using a one to five agreement scale. For utricle samples, PCPA derived measurements were directly compared against manually derived angle measurements and the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and Bland-Altman limits of agreement were calculated. PCPA was also tested against previously published images examining PCP in various tissues and across various species suggesting fairly broad utility. Results: PCPA was able to recognize and count 99.81% of cochlear hair cells, and was able to obtain ideally accurate planar cell polarity measurements for at least 96% of hair cells. When allowing for a <10° deviation from "perfect" measurements, PCPA's accuracy increased to 98%-100% for all users and across all samples. When PCPA's measurements were compared with manual angle measurements for E17.5 utricles there was negligible bias (<0.5°), and a CCC of 0.999. Qualitative examination of example images of Drosophila ommatidia, mouse ependymal cells, and mouse radial progenitors revealed a high level of accuracy for PCPA across a variety of stains, tissue types, and species. Discussion: Altogether, the data suggest that the PCPA plug-in suite is a robust and accurate tool for the automated collection of cell counts and PCP angle measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Bradley J. Walters
- University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Jackson, MS, United States
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Cetera M, Sharan R, Hayward-Lara G, Devenport D. Evaluating Planar Cell Polarity in the Developing Mouse Epidermis. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2805:187-201. [PMID: 39008183 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3854-5_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Epidermal tissues are among the most striking examples of planar polarity. Insect bristles, fish scales, and mammalian fur are all uniformly oriented along an animal's body axis. The collective alignment of epidermal structures provides a valuable system to interrogate the signaling mechanisms that coordinate cellular behaviors at both local and tissue-levels. Here, we provide methods to analyze the planar organization of hair follicles within the mouse epidermis. Hair follicles are specified and bud into the underlying dermis during embryonic development. Shortly after, follicle cells dynamically rearrange to orient each follicle toward the anterior of the animal. When directional signaling is disrupted, hair follicles become misoriented. In this chapter, we describe how to create a spatial map of hair follicle orientations to reveal tissue-scale patterns in both embryonic and postnatal skin. Additionally, we provide a live imaging protocol that can be used to monitor cell movements in embryonic skin explants to reveal the cellular behaviors that polarize the hair follicle itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen Cetera
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
| | - Rishabh Sharan
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Danelle Devenport
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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Strutt H, Warrington S, Madathil ACK, Langenhan T, Strutt D. Molecular symmetry breaking in the Frizzled-dependent planar polarity pathway. Curr Biol 2023; 33:5340-5354.e6. [PMID: 37995695 PMCID: PMC7616066 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
The core planar polarity pathway consists of six proteins that form asymmetric intercellular complexes that segregate to opposite cell ends in developing tissues and specify polarized cell structures or behaviors. Within these complexes, the atypical cadherin Flamingo localizes on both sides of intercellular junctions, where it interacts homophilically in trans via its cadherin repeats, whereas the transmembrane proteins Frizzled and Strabismus localize to the opposite sides of apposing junctions. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of such asymmetric complexes are poorly understood. Using a novel tissue culture system, we determine the minimum requirements for asymmetric complex assembly in the absence of confounding feedback mechanisms. We show that complexes are intrinsically asymmetric and that an interaction of Frizzled and Flamingo in one cell with Flamingo in the neighboring cell is the key symmetry-breaking step. In contrast, Strabismus is unable to promote homophilic Flamingo trans binding and is only recruited into complexes once Frizzled has entered on the opposite side. This interaction with Strabismus requires intact intracellular loops of the seven-pass transmembrane domain of Flamingo. Once recruited, Strabismus stabilizes the intercellular complexes together with the three cytoplasmic core proteins. We propose a model whereby Flamingo exists in a closed conformation and binding of Frizzled in one cell results in a conformational change that allows its cadherin repeats to interact with a Flamingo molecule in the neighboring cell. Flamingo in the adjacent cell then undergoes a further change in the seven-pass transmembrane region that promotes the recruitment of Strabismus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Strutt
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
| | - Samantha Warrington
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | | | - Tobias Langenhan
- Rudolf Schönheimer Institute of Biochemistry, Division of General Biochemistry, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - David Strutt
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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Cetera M, Sharan R, Hayward-Lara G, Phillips B, Biswas A, Halley M, Beall E, vonHoldt B, Devenport D. Region-specific reversal of epidermal planar polarity in the rosette fancy mouse. Development 2023; 150:dev202078. [PMID: 37622728 PMCID: PMC10499026 DOI: 10.1242/dev.202078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway collectively orients cells with respect to a body axis. Hair follicles of the murine epidermis provide a striking readout of PCP activity in their uniform alignment across the skin. Here, we characterize, from the molecular to tissue-scale, PCP establishment in the rosette fancy mouse, a natural variant with posterior-specific whorls in its fur, to understand how epidermal polarity is coordinated across the tissue. We find that rosette hair follicles emerge with reversed orientations specifically in the posterior region, creating a mirror image of epidermal polarity. The rosette trait is associated with a missense mutation in the core PCP gene Fzd6, which alters a consensus site for N-linked glycosylation, inhibiting its membrane localization. Unexpectedly, the Fzd6 trafficking defect does not block asymmetric localization of the other PCP proteins. Rather, the normally uniform axis of PCP asymmetry rotates where the PCP-directed cell movements that orient follicles are reversed, suggesting the PCP axis rotates 180°. Collectively, our multiscale analysis of epidermal polarity reveals PCP patterning can be regionally decoupled to produce posterior whorls in the rosette fancy mouse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen Cetera
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Rishabh Sharan
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | | | - Brooke Phillips
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Abhishek Biswas
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
- Research Computing, Office of Information Technology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Madalene Halley
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Evalyn Beall
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Bridgett vonHoldt
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Danelle Devenport
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
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5
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Basta LP, Sil P, Jones RA, Little KA, Hayward-Lara G, Devenport D. Celsr1 and Celsr2 exhibit distinct adhesive interactions and contributions to planar cell polarity. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 10:1064907. [PMID: 36712970 PMCID: PMC9878842 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1064907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cadherin EGF LAG seven-pass G-type receptor (Celsr) proteins 1-3 comprise a subgroup of adhesion GPCRs whose functions range from planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling to axon pathfinding and ciliogenesis. Like its Drosophila ortholog, Flamingo, mammalian Celsr1 is a core component of the PCP pathway, which, among other roles, is responsible for the coordinated alignment of hair follicles across the skin surface. Although the role of Celsr1 in epidermal planar polarity is well established, the contribution of the other major epidermally expressed Celsr protein, Celsr2, has not been investigated. Here, using two new CRISPR/Cas9-targeted Celsr1 and Celsr2 knockout mouse lines, we define the relative contributions of Celsr1 and Celsr2 to PCP establishment in the skin. We find that Celsr1 is the major Celsr family member involved in epidermal PCP. Removal of Celsr1 function alone abolishes PCP protein asymmetry and hair follicle polarization, whereas epidermal PCP is unaffected by loss of Celsr2. Further, elimination of both Celsr proteins only minimally enhances the Celsr1 -/- phenotype. Using FRAP and junctional enrichment assays to measure differences in Celsr1 and Celsr2 adhesive interactions, we find that compared to Celsr1, which stably enriches at junctional interfaces, Celsr2 is much less efficiently recruited to and immobilized at junctions. As the two proteins seem equivalent in their ability to interact with core PCP proteins Vangl2 and Fz6, we suggest that perhaps differences in homophilic adhesion contribute to the differential involvement of Celsr1 and Celsr2 in epidermal PCP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena P. Basta
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Parijat Sil
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Rebecca A. Jones
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Katherine A. Little
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Gabriela Hayward-Lara
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States,Current Affiliation. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Danelle Devenport
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States,*Correspondence: Danelle Devenport,
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Koyama H, Kishi K, Mikoshiba S, Fujimori T. An ImageJ-based tool for three-dimensional registration between different types of microscopic images. Dev Growth Differ 2023; 65:65-74. [PMID: 36576380 PMCID: PMC10107647 DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) registration (i.e., alignment) between two microscopic images is very helpful to study tissues that do not adhere to substrates, such as mouse embryos and organoids, which are often 3D rotated during imaging. However, there is no 3D registration tool easily accessible for experimental biologists. Here we developed an ImageJ-based tool which allows for 3D registration accompanied with both quantitative evaluation of the accuracy and reconstruction of 3D rotated images. In this tool, several landmarks are manually provided in two images to be aligned, and 3D rotation is computed so that the distances between the paired landmarks from the two images are minimized. By simultaneously providing multiple points (e.g., all nuclei in the regions of interest) other than the landmarks in the two images, the correspondence of each point between the two images, i.e., to which nucleus in one image a certain nucleus in another image corresponds, is quantitatively explored. Furthermore, 3D rotation is applied to one of the two images, resulting in reconstruction of 3D rotated images. We demonstrated that this tool successfully achieved 3D registration and reconstruction of images in mouse pre- and post-implantation embryos, where one image was obtained during live imaging and another image was obtained from fixed embryos after live imaging. This approach provides a versatile tool applicable for various tissues and species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Koyama
- Division of Embryology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan.,Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Japan
| | - Kanae Kishi
- Division of Embryology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan.,Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (JST-CREST), Kawaguchi, Japan
| | - Seiya Mikoshiba
- Division of Embryology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan.,Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Toshihiko Fujimori
- Division of Embryology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan.,Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Japan.,Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (JST-CREST), Kawaguchi, Japan
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7
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Brittle A, Warrington SJ, Strutt H, Manning E, Tan SE, Strutt D. Distinct mechanisms of planar polarization by the core and Fat-Dachsous planar polarity pathways in the Drosophila wing. Cell Rep 2022; 40:111419. [PMID: 36170824 PMCID: PMC9631118 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Planar polarity describes the coordinated polarization of cells within a tissue plane, and in animals can be determined by the “core” or Fat-Dachsous pathways. Current models for planar polarity establishment involve two components: tissue-level “global” cues that determine the overall axis of polarity and cell-level feedback-mediated cellular polarity amplification. Here, we investigate the contributions of global cues versus cellular feedback amplification in the core and Fat-Dachsous pathways during Drosophila pupal wing development. We present evidence that these pathways generate planar polarity via distinct mechanisms. Core pathway function is consistent with strong feedback capable of self-organizing cell polarity, which can then be aligned with the tissue axis via weak or transient global cues. Conversely, generation of cell polarity by the Ft-Ds pathway depends on strong global cues in the form of graded patterns of gene expression, which can then be amplified by weak feedback mechanisms. The core and Fat-Dachsous planar polarity pathways function via distinct mechanisms The core can self-organize planar polarity and be oriented by weak upstream cues Fat-Dachsous are oriented by strong gradient cues but show poor self-organization
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Brittle
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | | | - Helen Strutt
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Elizabeth Manning
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Su Ee Tan
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - David Strutt
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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8
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Hirano S, Mii Y, Charras G, Michiue T. Alignment of the cell long axis by unidirectional tension acts cooperatively with Wnt signalling to establish planar cell polarity. Development 2022; 149:275482. [PMID: 35593440 DOI: 10.1242/dev.200515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Planar cell polarity (PCP) is the aligned cell polarity within a tissue plane. Mechanical signals are known to act as a global cue for PCP, yet their exact role is still unclear. In this study, we focused on PCP in the posterior neuroectoderm of Xenopus laevis and investigated how mechanical signals regulate polarity. We reveal that the neuroectoderm is under a greater tension in the anterior-posterior direction and that perturbation of this tension causes PCP disappearance. We show that application of uniaxial stretch to explant tissues can control the orientation of PCP and that cells sense the tissue stretch indirectly through a change in their shape, rather than directly through detection of anisotropic tension. Furthermore, we reveal that PCP is most strongly established when the orientation of tissue stretch coincides with that of diffusion of locally expressed Wnt ligands, suggesting a cooperative relationship between these two PCP regulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayuki Hirano
- Department of Life Sciences (Biology), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
| | - Yusuke Mii
- National Institute for Basic Biology and Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.,Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.,Department of Basic Biology, Graduate School for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.,Japan Science and Technology Agency, PRESTO, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
| | - Guillaume Charras
- London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, 17-19 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK.,Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Tatsuo Michiue
- Department of Life Sciences (Biology), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
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