Frizzled signaling and cell-cell interactions in planar polarity

The function of the Frizzled pathway is essential for the formation of the array of distally pointing hairs found on the Drosophila wing. Previous research found that regulating the subcellular location for hair initiation controlled hair polarity. Recent work argues a graded Frizzled-dependent signal results in the accumulation of the Frizzled, Dishevelled and Flamingo proteins along the distal edge of the wing cells. This cortical mark leads to the local activation of downstream gene products and the subsequent activation of the cytoskeleton to form a hair.