Meet the Jury Thomas Boulin on A non-canonical Wnt/Ror signalling cascade controls cell polarity in C. elegans muscles

Arenberg Doctoral School is proud to invite you to Meet The Jury!

When internationally renowned experts visit KU Leuven as a member of a PhD Examination Committee, we like to seize this opportunity to give this expert a forum to a large audience. All members of Science, Engineering & Technology are most welcome to the Meet The Jury Lectures.

Prof. Thomas Boulin (University of Lyon, France) will give a lecture on “A non-canonical Wnt/Ror signalling cascade controls cell polarity in C. elegans muscles”.

Cell polarity is a fundamental and widespread feature of eukaryotic cells. Through the formation of polarized membrane compartments, cells establish domains with distinct protein compositions and signaling properties. This spatial organization underlies functional compartmentalization, ensuring coordinated signaling and the development of complex tissues. We recently discovered that Caenorhabditis elegans muscle cells are polarized (Peysson, et al., Nature Communications). This finding was very unexpected, given the decades of detailed work on the development, structure and function of C. elegans muscle cells. By examining the subcellular localization of potassium channels and proteins belonging to the Dystrophin-associated protein complex (DAPC), we found that these proteins are distributed in distinct asymmetric membrane compartments. Furthermore, muscle polarity also constitutes the first example of tissue-scale planar polarity in this animal. Indeed, the repeated organization of asymmetric membrane compartments along the body axis bears a striking resemblance to planar polarity patterns in other animals. Surprisingly, classical planar cell polarity proteins (e.g., Vang, Flamingo, Prickle) are however not required for muscle polarity. Instead, using a candidate gene approach, we demonstrated that muscle cell polarity relies on the Wnt ligand EGL-20, the receptor CAM-1/Ror, and the intracellular effector DSH-1/Disheveled. Remarkably, the homologous Wnt5a–Ror–Dvl pathway also governs cell polarization and morphogenetic processes in vertebrates, and its dysregulation contributes to congenital defects and metastatic progression of cancers. Our work has revealed the unsuspected complexity and polarized organization of the C. elegans muscle membrane, and established a novel genetically tractable model system to study cellular polarity and membrane compartmentalization in vivo. Our goal project is to identify and characterize the molecular actors and cellular processes that act downstream of the Wnt-Ror-Dvl signaling cascade to implement muscle polarity. By addressing these questions in C. elegans, our project will not only elucidate how asymmetric plasma membrane domains can be established and maintained but also shed light on general principles by which non-canonical Wnt signaling shapes cell polarity in development and disease.

Following the lecture, there will be opportunity for young researchers to interact with him.

• Venue: Symbiosis Aula (12.366), Leuven BioScience Centre, Celestijnenlaan 200R, 3001 Heverlee
• Date: 13 October 2026 – 11:00-12:00
• Prof. Thomas Boulin is visiting KU Leuven on the occasion of the PhD defence of Li Chen