Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.
Nat Cell Biol. 2012 Dec;14(12):1235-43. doi: 10.1038/ncb2635.
Epithelial cells have an apical-basolateral axis of polarity, which is required for epithelial functions including barrier formation, vectorial ion transport and sensory perception. Here we review what is known about the sorting signals, machineries and pathways that maintain this asymmetry, and how polarity proteins interface with membrane-trafficking pathways to generate membrane domains de novo. It is becoming apparent that membrane traffic does not simply reinforce polarity, but is critical for the generation of cortical epithelial cell asymmetry.
上皮细胞具有极性的顶-基底轴，这对于上皮细胞的功能是必需的，包括形成屏障、向量离子转运和感觉感知。在这里，我们回顾了维持这种不对称性的分选信号、机制和途径，以及极性蛋白如何与膜运输途径相互作用以从头生成膜域。现在越来越明显的是，膜运输并不仅仅是加强极性，而是对面皮层上皮细胞不对称性的产生至关重要。
