{"doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.02.036","title":"Oligomerization and positive feedback on membrane binding stabilize PAR-3 asymmetries in the C. elegans zygote","abstract":null,"journal":"Current Biology","year":2026,"id":665343,"datarank":0.24141568686511508,"base_score":1.6094379124341003,"endowment":1.6094379124341003,"self_citation_contribution":0.24141568686511508,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.24141568686511508,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":4,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1266803,"name":"Ondrej Maxian","orcid":"0000-0002-4770-1723","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":687361,"name":"Alexander Anneken","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":309231,"name":"Edwin Munro","orcid":"0000-0001-5535-5675","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":463803,"name":"Charles F. Lang","orcid":"0000-0001-6428-3941","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Oligomerization and positive feedback on membrane binding stabilize PAR-3 asymmetries in the C. elegans zygote","abstract":"Studies of PAR polarity have emphasized a paradigm in which mutually antagonistic PAR proteins form complementary polar domains in response to transient cues. A growing body of work suggests that the oligomeric scaffold PAR-3 can form unipolar asymmetries without mutual antagonism, but how it does so is largely unknown. Here, we combine single-molecule analyses and modeling to show how the interplay of two positive feedback loops promotes dynamically stable unipolar PAR-3 asymmetries in early C. elegans embryos. First, the intrinsic dynamics of PAR-3 membrane binding and oligomerization encode negative feedback on PAR-3 dissociation. Second, membrane-bound PAR-3 promotes its own recruitment through a mechanism that requires the anterior polarity proteins PAR-6 and PKC-3. Using a kinetic model tightly constrained by our experimental measurements, we show that these two feedback loops are individually required and jointly sufficient to encode dynamically stable and locally inducible unipolar PAR-3 asymmetries in the absence of posterior inhibition. Given the central role of PAR-3, and the conservation of PAR-3 membrane-binding, oligomerization, and core interactions with PAR-6 and PKC-3, these results have widespread implications for PAR-mediated polarity in metazoa.","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":1.6094379124341003,"endowment":1.6094379124341003,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"41875854","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W7140108444","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"NIGMS NIH HHS","grant_id":"R01 GM098441","title":null},{"funder_name":"NIGMS NIH HHS","grant_id":"R01 GM143576","title":null},{"funder_name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","grant_id":"","title":null}],"total_grants":3,"fwci":13.9796,"citation_percentile":0.98392988,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2026,"count":4}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0960982226002046?httpAccept=text/xml","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0960982226002046?httpAccept=text/plain","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.02.036","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41875854","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms","Cellular transport and secretion","Nuclear Structure and Function","Animals","Caenorhabditis elegans","Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins","Zygote","Protein Kinase C","Cell Polarity","Feedback, Physiological","Cell Membrane","Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases"],"mesh_terms":["Animals","Cell Membrane","Embryo, Nonmammalian","Protein Kinase C","Zygote","Cell Polarity","Caenorhabditis elegans","Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases","Feedback, Physiological","Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins"],"keywords":["Zygote","Positive feedback","Caenorhabditis elegans","Membrane","Feedback regulation","Membrane protein","Polarity","Oligomerization","C. Elegans","Mathematical Modeling","Par Proteins"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-13T08:24:25.497001Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}