Analysis of Wnt/planar cell polarity pathway in cultured cells.

Planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway of Wnt signaling plays a crucial role to establish the polarization of cells during tissue development. Our recent findings using in vitro analyses have revealed that Ror2, a member of the Ror-family receptor tyrosine kinases, acts as a receptor or co-receptor for Wnt5a and plays a crucial role for Wnt5a-induced polarized cell migration through activating PCP pathway. Indeed, analyses of both Wnt5a and Ror2 mutant mice have shown that Wnt5a-Ror2 signaling is involved in establishing the PCP in epithelial tissues in vivo, indicating that in vitro analyses of polarized cell migration and PCP signaling induced by Wnt5a can be useful tools to explore putative regulators involved in Wnt/PCP pathway. Here, we introduce in vitro methods using cultured cells to monitor polarized cell migration and PCP signaling induced by Wnt5a.