Developmental Biology Research Initiatives, Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Plant Signal Behav. 2011 Nov;6(11):1710-3. doi: 10.4161/psb.6.11.17477. Epub 2011 Nov 1.
Cell polarity is a fundamental aspect of eukaryotic cells. A central question for cell biologists is how the polarity of a cell is established and maintained. Root hairs are exceptionally polarized structures formed from specific root epidermal cells. The morphogenesis of root hairs is characterized by the localized cell growth in a small dome at the tip of the hair, a process called tip growth. Root hairs are thus an attractive model system to study the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity in eukaryotes. Research on Arabidopsis root hairs has identified a plethora of molecular and cellular components that are important for root hair tip growth. Recently, studies on RHD3 and Atlastin have revealed a surprising similarity with respect to the role of the tubular ER network in tip growth of root hairs in plants and the axonal outgrowth of corticospinal neurons in neurological disorders known as hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). In this mini-review, we highlight recent progress in understanding of the function and regulation of RHD3 in the generation of the tubular ER network and discussed ways in which RHD3 could be involved in the establishment and maintenance of root hair tip growth.
细胞极性是真核细胞的一个基本特征。对于细胞生物学家来说，一个核心问题是细胞的极性是如何建立和维持的。根毛是由特定的根表皮细胞形成的具有特殊极性的结构。根毛的形态发生特征是在毛的尖端的一个小穹顶处进行局部细胞生长，这个过程称为顶端生长。因此，根毛是研究真核生物细胞极性建立和维持的一个有吸引力的模型系统。对拟南芥根毛的研究已经确定了大量对根毛顶端生长很重要的分子和细胞成分。最近，对 RHD3 和 Atlastin 的研究揭示了管状内质网网络在植物根毛顶端生长和神经紊乱（称为遗传性痉挛性截瘫（HSP））中的皮质脊髓神经元轴突外生中的作用具有惊人的相似性。在这篇迷你综述中，我们强调了最近在理解 RHD3 在管状内质网网络的产生中的功能和调节方面的进展，并讨论了 RHD3 如何参与根毛顶端生长的建立和维持。
