Methods in cell biology: analysis of cell polarity in C. elegans embryos

Abstract

Cell polarity is a fundamental principle guiding development. Early C. elegans embryos contain a diversity of polarized cell types, ranging from asymmetrically dividing stem cells to a polarized epithelium. Over the past two decades, work using C. elegans embryos has led to mechanistic understandings of many aspects of cell polarity establishment, maintenance and propagation. Here we provide basic methods for researchers interested in using C. elegans embryos to study cell polarity, emphasizing the amenability of C. elegans to quantitative molecular analysis.