Prickle (protein)

The first prickle protein was identified in Drosophila as a planar cell polarity protein. Vertebrate prickle-1 was first found as a rat protein that binds to a transcription factor, neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF). It was then recognized that other vertebrates including mice and humans have two genes that are related to Drosophila prickle. Mouse prickle-2 was found to be expressed in mature neurons of the brain along with mouse homologs of Drosophila planar polarity genes flamingo and dischevelled.

Prickle is recruited to the cell surface membrane by strabismus, another planar cell polarity protein. In the developing Drosophila wing, prickle becomes concentrated at the proximal side of cells. Prickle can compete with the ankyrin-repeat protein Diego for a binding site on Dishevelled.

In Drosophila, prickle is present inside cells in multiple forms due to alternative splicing of the prickle mRNA. The relative levels of the alternate forms may be regulated and involved in the normal control of planar cell polarity.