Article
Cell Biology
Jonathon Howard, Alexander Chasteen, Xiaoyi Ouyang, Veikko F. Geyer, Pablo Sartori
Summary: Cilia and flagella are organelles that propel cells and drive fluid flow. The bending waves generated by dynein motor proteins play a crucial role in this process, but the exact location of these force-generating dyneins is still unclear. Researchers used a molecular-mechanics approach to predict the location of these dyneins and verified their predictions using cryogenic electron microscopy.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Dinu Antony, Han G. Brunner, Miriam Schmidts
Summary: The function of cilia is crucial for vertebrate development and health, and dysfunction can lead to various ciliopathies. Major human ciliopathy cases are caused by malfunction of ciliary dynein motor activity, with different types of dynein dysfunction resulting in different disease phenotypes.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Limei Wang, Xuecheng Li, Guang Liu, Junmin Pan
Summary: FBB18 plays a crucial role in the assembly of dynein arms by facilitating the folding/stabilization of almost all axonemal dyneins. Mutations in FBB18 result in short or absent cilia with partial loss of dynein arms. FBB18 interacts with multiple DNAAFs simultaneously, indicating the importance of dynein folding/stability in axonemal dynein preassembly.
Article
Cell Biology
Ezgi Odabasi, Deniz Conkar, Jovana Deretic, Umut Batman, Kari-Anne M. Frikstad, Sebastian Patzke, Elif Nur Firat-Karalar
Summary: CCDC66 is a microtubule-associated protein involved in cilium biogenesis and ciliopathies. It localizes between centrosomes, centriolar satellites, and the ciliary axoneme and tip during cilium biogenesis. Depletion of CCDC66 leads to defects in cilium assembly, length, and morphology, as well as impaired Hedgehog pathway activation. Furthermore, CCDC66 is necessary for the recruitment of transition zone proteins and intraflagellar transport B (IFT-B) machinery to the basal body. Overall, CCDC66 plays a multifaceted role in regulating the primary cilium and provides insight into the assembly of functional cilia.
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Bryony Braschi, Heymut Omran, George B. Witman, Gregory J. Pazour, K. Kevin Pfister, Elspeth A. Bruford, Stephen M. King
Summary: This review provides an updated consensus nomenclature for components of dynein motors and their assembly factors. Standardizing gene nomenclature facilitates cross-species discussion and genetic comparison. The review also details additional nomenclature updates for vertebrate-specific genes.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Petra Zur Lage, Zhiyan Xi, Jennifer Lennon, Iain Hunter, Wai Kit Chan, Alfonso Bolado Carrancio, Alex von Kriegsheim, Andrew P. Jarman
Summary: Ciliary motility in humans relies on highly conserved axoneme-specific dynein motor complexes, and mutations in these motors can lead to primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Research in Drosophila has identified a less-known assembly factor, DNAAF3, which is essential for the function of mechanosensory neurons and sperm-producing cells in fruit flies. Mutations in DNAAF3 result in deaf larvae and uncoordinated adults, indicating a dysfunction in Ch neurons. Additionally, the absence of dynein arms in mutant Ch neuron cilia and immotile sperm with disrupted axoneme further demonstrates the importance of dynein motors in ciliary function and sperm motility.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
David J. Simon, Joshua Levitz
Summary: This study reveals a new type of synapse that enables chemical transmission between serotonergic axons and the primary cilia of hippocampal neurons, providing insights into the role of the primary cilium in neuromodulatory signaling.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Travis Walton, Miao Gui, Simona Velkova, Mahmoud R. Fassad, Robert A. Hirst, Eric Haarman, Christopher O'Callaghan, Mathieu Bottier, Thomas Burgoyne, Hannah M. Mitchison, Alan Brown
Summary: The recent research achievements have determined the atomic models of the 96-nm modular repeats of axonemes, revealing the conservation and specialization of axonemes and the mechanisms that regulate ciliary motility. The structures of respiratory-cilia doublet microtubules from individuals with PCD have shown how the loss of individual docking factors can selectively eradicate periodically repeating structures.
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Yang Gao, Shixiong Tian, Yanwei Sha, Xiaomin Zha, Huiru Cheng, Anyong Wang, Chunyu Liu, Mingrong Lv, Xiaoqing Ni, Qiang Li, Huan Wu, Qing Tan, Dongdong Tang, Bing Song, Ding Ding, Jiangshan Cong, Yuping Xu, Ping Zhou, Zhaolian Wei, Yunxia Cao, Yuanhong Xu, Feng Zhang, Xiaojin He
Summary: The study identified bi-allelic DNAH2 variants in 3 Chinese patients with MMAF, affecting DNAH2 protein expression and sperm morphology. However, intracytoplasmic sperm injection was able to overcome the sperm abnormalities associated with MMAF, leading to successful embryo transfer and clinical pregnancy. These findings contribute to understanding the genetic landscape of asthenoteratozoospermia and counseling for male infertility.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Travis Walton, Hao Wu, Alan Brown
Summary: Axonemal dyneins are tethered to doublet microtubules inside cilia to drive ciliary beating, but the mechanisms regulating their localization and function are poorly understood. Authors report a cryo-EM reconstruction of a three-headed axonemal dynein natively bound to doublet microtubules isolated from cilia, providing a framework to understand the roles of individual subunits.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Cell Biology
Bo Wang, Zheyong Liang, Peijun Liu
Summary: This article reviews the role of the primary cilium in cancer, including its architecture, signaling pathways, cilia assembly and disassembly regulators, summarizing new findings in tumor microenvironments and different cancers, highlighting novel possibilities for therapeutic targets in cancer.
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Sungkeun Yoo, Taegyun Kim, Myoungjae Seo, Joohyun Oh, Jongwon Kim, Hwa Soo Kim, TaeWon Seo
Summary: This paper presents the modeling and verification of a multi-winding rope winch for facade operation. The experimental results show that the model can accurately track the position within 0.8% error.
MECHANISM AND MACHINE THEORY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Miho Sakato-Antoku, Jeremy L. Balsbaugh, Stephen M. King
Summary: Axonemal dyneins, the microtubule motors powering ciliary motility, undergo complex processing and assembly pathways in the cytoplasm. This study provides insights into the N-terminal processing patterns of dynein heavy chains and identifies acetylase complexes involved in this process. Furthermore, the study reveals the potential role of an unmodified Pro residue in directing the cytosolic stoichiometry of other dynein complex subunits.
Article
Biology
Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Motohiro Morikawa, Masahide Kikkawa, Alan Brown
Summary: Outer arm dynein (OAD) is the main force generator of ciliary beating. The docking mechanism of OAD onto the ciliary doublet microtubule (DMT) in vertebrates is not clear. Calaxin/Efcab1 and Armc4 were analyzed for their functions in the OAD-DMT interaction in zebrafish spermatozoa. Calaxin(-/-) OADs were found to be tethered to DMT through DC components other than Calaxin, and recombinant Calaxin could rescue the deficient DC structure and the OAD instability. The roles of Calaxin and Armc4 in the OAD-DMT interaction were demonstrated, suggesting the stabilizing process of OAD docking onto DMT in vertebrates.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Girish R. Mali, Ferdos Abid Ali, Clinton K. Lau, Farida Begum, Jerome Boulanger, Jonathan D. Howe, Zhuo A. Chen, Juri Rappsilber, Mark Skehel, Andrew P. Carter
Summary: The protein Shulin binds to ODAs in the cytoplasm, inhibits their motor activity, stabilizes their compact form, and facilitates their delivery to the cilia, providing a molecular explanation for the process.
