image: This is a confocal micrograph of the tip of a Dictyostelium discoideum fruiting body, stained for DNA (blue), actin (green), Ddα-catenin (orange) and tubulin (magenta). Epithelial tissues form the basis of tissue organization in multicellular animals; the social amoeba D. discoideum has now been found to form a polarized epithelial tissue that contributes to morphogenesis in the multicellular stage of its life cycle. β-catenin and α-catenin are required for epithelial polarity in both metazoans and D. discoideum, suggesting that these proteins have ancient roles in cell and tissue polarity. This image relates to an article that appeared in the March 11, 2011, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Daniel J. Dickinson, at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., and colleagues was titled, "A Polarized Epithelium Organized by Beta- and Alpha-Catenin Predates Cadherin and Metazoan Origins." view more
Credit: Daniel J. Dickinson, Program in Cancer Biology, Stanford University