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Updated: May 19, 2026

En Face Endocardial Cushion Preparation for Planar Morphogenesis Analysis in Mouse Embryos
Published on: July 27, 2022
Planar cell polarity and the developmental control of cell behavior in vertebrate embryos
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Section of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. wallingford@mail.utexas.edu
Abstract:
Planar cell polarity (PCP), the orientation and alignment of cells within a sheet, is a ubiquitous cellular property that is commonly governed by the conserved set of proteins encoded by so-called PCP genes. The PCP proteins coordinate developmental signaling cues with individual cell behaviors in a wildly diverse array of tissues. Consequently, disruptions of PCP protein functions are linked to defects in axis elongation, inner ear patterning, neural tube closure, directed ciliary beating, and left/right patterning, to name only a few. This review attempts to synthesize what is known about PCP and the PCP proteins in vertebrate animals, with a particular focus on the mechanisms by which individual cells respond to PCP cues in order to execute specific cellular behaviors.
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