De Novo Cell Polarity Establishment in Development and Disease

Eukaryotic cells must polarize to achieve their various functions. During vertebrate development, embryonic cell polarity ensures proper morphogenesis by regulating cell migration and tissue growth. In nervous systems, neurons form polarized axons and dendrites to build functional circuits. Epithelial cells in adult tissues may suffer from different types of damage, and the acquisition of polarity in cells surrounding the damage sites is an important prerequisite for the healing process. Establishment of the first cell polarity, or de novo cell polarization, is the crucial initial step for the above-mentioned processes. The mechanisms to establish de novo cell polarity are likely to differ between systems, but all must begin with a symmetry breaking process to form the initial asymmetric cellular distributions, and followed by downstream feedback mechanisms to consolidate the asymmetry and to build polarized structures.

With the recent advancement in imaging technologies, in vitro systems, and in silico simulation methods, we are now at an era that is better-suited than ever to address how cell polarity can be established for the first time. This article collection aims to gather new data on how de novo cell polarity becomes established in different contexts; reviews to summarize and update our knowledge on de novo cell polarization; and new theories/ideas on how this fascinating process is achieved. The hope of this collection is to provoke new thoughts on this topic and to better benefit the cell polarity studies.

This article collection includes (but not limited to) the following scenarios:

Embryonic developmental processes
Epithelial structure formation
Cell migration models
Cell/tissue polarity in pathogenetics contexts
Nervous system development
Neuronal circuit formation and plasticity
Single Eukaryotic microorganism morphogenesis
Front-back cell polarity

We accept different article types including Mini-Reviews, Brief Research Reports and Perspectives. A full list of accepted article types, including descriptions, can be found at this link.

Keywords: Cell polarity, cell migration, Tissue morphogenesis, Neuronal cell polarity, embryogenesis, Cancer cell, Neuronal plasticity, cell adhesion

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.