Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Biol Cell. 2009 Nov 16;102(2):75-91. doi: 10.1042/BC20090134.
Polarity is the structural and functional hallmark of epithelia. The apical plasma membrane, facing the organism's exterior (the lumen of the gut, renal tubule and glandular duct), differs in many important respects from the basolateral plasma membrane that is apposed to the interior of the organism. The generation and maintenance of epithelial polarity require a highly specialized subcellular machinery to bring proteins to their appropriate sites of action. This is a dynamic process involving the interpretation of sorting signals, vectorial delivery mechanisms, membrane-specific fusion and retention processes. Here, we will provide a review of the field, highlighting recent advances within a historically relevant context.
极性是上皮细胞的结构和功能特征。面向生物体外部（肠道、肾小管和腺管腔）的顶端质膜在许多重要方面都不同于与生物体内部相邻的基底外侧质膜。上皮细胞极性的产生和维持需要高度专门的亚细胞机制将蛋白质带到其适当的作用部位。这是一个动态过程，涉及到分拣信号的解释、定向输送机制、膜特异性融合和保留过程。在这里，我们将回顾该领域的研究进展，突出历史背景下的最新进展。
