European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

REVIEW: CELLULAR POLARITY AND ITS STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS

Yogendra Kumar Lahir*

ABSTRACT

Animal cells exhibit one of the most common features, the polarity, and this feature reflects on the existence of
molecular asymmetries in cells. The basic common molecular maneuver involves its establishment and
transduction regardless of type of cell and organism. The prime guiding parameters of polarity are polarity cue
(signal), cytoskeletal regulations or adaptations, concerned polarity proteins and the efficacy of transduction of
information related to polarity. The basic foundational steps of polarity in different types of cells are either similar
or have mechanistic parallels. The establishment and maintenance of cell polarity is important to a wide range of
biological cellular processes ranging from chemotaxis to embryogenesis. An essential feature of cell polarity is the
asymmetric organization of proteins and lipids in the plasma membrane and the cell organelles. In this article, the
role of polarity regulators such as, small GTP-binding proteins and phospholipids, spatially and kinetically control
vesicular trafficking and membrane organization is reviewed. Further, this presentation is an effort to understand the role of membrane trafficking in cell polarization through delivery of polarity determinants and regulators.

Keywords: Apicobasal-polarity, axis specification, cell polarity signalling, Crumbs complex PAR complex, Rho GTPases, Scribble complex.