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Cell-cell
signaling Cell fates can be determined by signals produced from
other cells. During development, signal from a cell can induce not only a
single cell species but also multiple cell types in the surrounding tissue.
Such processes are essential to pattern tissues with multiple cell types. I
will discuss several distinct mechanisms that pattern tissues by a single
signal using a model system: the development of the vulva in C. elegans. Vulval precursor cells (VPCs) adopt one of the three
cell fates (1, 2 and 3), which can be distinguished using their distinct cell division
patterns. A signal from a cell called the anchor cell (AC) induces these cell
fates in equivalent VPCs. As described in Figure 3, several distinct models can
be considered to explain the phenomenon. |