Step 1: Epithelial cells show polarity with distinct apical, lateral, and basal surfaces.
Step 2: The basal lamina provides positional cues and signals that induce and maintain this cellular polarity.
Step 3: Proteins like vinculin and occludin are junctional proteins involved in cell adhesion and tight junctions, but they do not induce polarity.
Step 4: The extracellular matrix provides support, but the basal lamina specifically induces epithelial polarity.
Hence, the induction source of cellular polarity in epithelial cells is the basal lamina.