Developmental Biology
Peter A. Lawrence 
MRC Emeritus Scientist
Email: pal38@cam.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 (0)1223 769015
Planar Cell Polarity
In collaboration with Gary Struhl in University of Columbia, New York we try to understand animal design and pattern formation. An important and rather neglected aspect of development of both animals and plants is vectorial -- how do cells know which way to move, how to polarise cell divisions, how to orient cell extensions such as axons, hairs or bristles? We are using Drosophila and studying what must be at least part of this vectorial information and is known as planar cell polarity (PCP) which we analyse with both molecular and genetic techniques. We have found that PCP depends on (at least) two genetic systems (the Dachsous system and the Starry night (flamingo) system and we are now trying to understand these systems better, both at the cellular and the molecular level. Our approaches include genetic mosaics, genetic engineering, the 4D microscopy of cell migration in the fly pupa and axon and dendrite pathfinding in the epidermis.
Selected publications
- Day, S.J. and Lawrence, P.A. Measuring dimensions: the regulation of shape and size. Development 127, 2977-2987 (2000).
- Lawrence, P.A., Casal, J. and Struhl, G. Towards a model of the organisation of planar polarity and pattern in the Drosophila abdomen. Development 129, 2749-2760 (2002).
- Casal, J., Struhl, G and Lawrence, P.A. Developmental compartments and planar polarity in Drosophila. Current Biology 12, 1189-1198 (2002).
- Lawrence, P.A. Casal, J. and Struhl, G. Cell interactions and planar polarity in the abdominal epidermis of Drosophila. Development 131, 4651-4664 (2004).
- Casal, J., Lawrence, P.A. and Struhl, G. Two separate molecular systems, Dachsous/Fat and Starry night/Frizzled, act independently to confer planar cell polarity. Development 133, 4561-4572 (2006).
- Lawrence, P.A., Struhl, G. Casal, J. (2007) Planar cell polarity: one or two pathways? Nature Reviews Genetics 8, 555 - 563.
- Brittle, A. L., Repiso, A., Casal, J., Lawrence, P. A., and Strutt, D. Four- Jointed modulates growth and planar polarity by reducing the affinity of Dachsous for Fat. Curr. Biol., 20, 803–810. (2010).
- Fabre, C. C. G., Casal, J., and Lawrence, P. A. Mechanosensilla in the adult abdomen of Drosophila: engrailed and slit help to corral the peripheral sensory axons into segmental bundles. Development, 137, 2885–2894. (2010).
- Repiso, A., Saavedra, P., Casal, J., and Lawrence, P. A. Planar cell polarity: the orientation of larval denticles in Drosophila appears to depend on gradients of Dachsous and Fat. Development, 137, 3411–3415. (2010).
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