Spatial perturbation with synthetic protein scaffold reveals robustness of asymmetric cell division.

ABSTRACT: Asymmetric cell division is an important mechanism for creating diversity in a cellular population. Stem cells commonly perform asymmetric division to generate both a daughter stem cell for self-renewal and a more differentiated daughter cell to populate the tissue. During asymmetric cell division, protein cell fate determinants asymmetrically localize to the opposite poles of a dividing cell to cause distinct cell fate. However, it remains unclear whether cell fate determination is robust to fluctuations and noise during this spatial allocation process. To answer this question, we engineered Caulobacter, a bacterial model for asymmetric division, to express synthetic scaffolds with modular protein interaction domains. These scaffolds perturbed the spatial distribution of the PleC-D

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4350780 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature