Several developmental stages, including dorsal closure (DC), involve epithelial fusion events during which cell-cell adhesions disassemble, cells migrate and, when migration is complete, cell-cell adhesions reassemble. On p. 2023, Nicholas Harden and colleagues reveal how the Scribble complex (which contains Scrib, a polarity regulator) and Pak (a Cdc42/Rac effector kinase; Cdc42 and Rac regulate actin-based membrane extensions during cell migration) interact to shift epithelial cells between adhered and migratory states in Drosophila. In mammalian cells, Scrib recruits Cdc42, Rac and Pak to the leading edge (LE) membrane during cell migration. Similarly, in Drosophila Pak localisation in the follicular epithelium is Scrib dependent. Importantly, however, the researchers show that during DC, Scrib is lost from the LE during epidermal migration, and, at the end of DC, integrin-localised Pak recruits the Scrib complex to the LE, thereby restoring apicobasal polarity and cell-cell adhesion. They suggest, therefore, that bidirectional interactions between the Scrib complex and Pak might modulate epithelial plasticity during DC and in other developmental situations.
Epithelial migration: Scribble and Pak lead in turn
Epithelial migration: Scribble and Pak lead in turn. Development 15 June 2010; 137 (12): e1201. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology

In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.