Cilia and flagella revealed: from flagellar assembly in Chlamydomonas to human obesity disorders.
The recent identification in Chlamydomonas of the intraflagellar transport machinery that assembles cilia and flagella has triggered a renaissance of interest in these organelles that transcends studies on their well-characterized ability to move. New studies on several fronts have revealed that the machinery for flagellar assembly/disassembly is regulated by homologs of mitotic proteins, that cilia play essential roles in sensory transduction, and that mutations in cilia/basal body proteins are responsible for cilia-related human disorders from polycystic kidney disease to a syndrome associated with obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.
Snell
William J
WJ
Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. william.snell@utsouthwestern.edu
Pan
Junmin
J
Wang
Qian
Q
D000818:Animals; D020788:Bardet-Biedl Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002696:Chlamydomonas / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002923:Cilia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002925:Ciliary Motility Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D005407:Flagella / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007690:Polycystic Kidney Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology