MINI REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Signaling
Comparative roles of Wnt/PCP pathway in midline morphogenesis and cellular flows during non-amniote and amniote gastrulation
International Research Center for Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract
The Wnt/Planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is evolutionarily conserved and plays crucial roles in coordinating collective cell behaviors during embryonic development. Across the animal kingdom, the bilateral body plan is built upon the midline, whose formation begins during gastrulation, a stage characterized by large-scale cellular flows (extensive collective cell movements). In non-amniotes, midline morphogenesis is tightly coupled to these cellular flows, and this coupling is mediated by the Wnt/PCP pathway. By contrast, during amniote embryogenesis, the Wnt/PCP pathway is essential for morphogenesis of the initial midline structure, the primitive streak, particularly in avian embryos. However, its role in regulating cellular flows during primitive streak development has yet to be fully elucidated. This review integrates historical and recent findings on the Wnt/PCP pathway in midline morphogenesis and cellular flows across non-amniotes and amniotes, with a particular focus on amniote (especially avian) primitive streak development. Conserved mechanisms and species-specific developmental processes are highlighted, and the interface between the Wnt/PCP pathway and collective cell behaviors is discussed in the context of vertebrate body-plan patterning.
Summary
Keywords
Cellular Flow, Convergent extension, Gastrulation, midline patterning, Wnt/PCP
Received
19 January 2026
Accepted
17 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Asai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Rieko Asai
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.