Non-cell-autonomous planar cell polarity propagation in the auditory sensory epithelium of vertebrates.

Sensory epithelia of the inner ear require a coordinated alignment of hair cell stereociliary bundles as an essential element of mechanoreceptive function. Hair cell bundle alignment is mediated by core planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins, such as Vangl2, that localize asymmetrically to the circumference of the cell near its apical surface. During early phases of cell orientation in the chicken basilar papilla (BP), Vangl2 is present at supporting cell junctions that lie orthogonal to the polarity axis.