title: The essential roles of transition fibers in the context of cilia.
abstract: Once thought of as a vestigial organelle, the primary cilium is now recognized as a signaling hub for key cellular pathways in vertebrate development. The recent renaissance in cilia studies significantly improved our understanding of how cilia form and function, but little is known about how ciliogenesis is initiated and how ciliary proteins enter cilia. These important ciliary events require transition fibers (TFs) that are positioned at the ciliary base as symmetric nine-bladed propeller fibrous structures. Up until recently, TFs have been the most underappreciated ciliary structures due to limited knowledge about their molecular composition and function. Here, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of TF composition and the indispensable roles of TFs in regulating the initiation of ciliogenesis and the selective import of ciliary proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Mayo Translational PKD Center, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Electronic address: hu.jinghua@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Jinghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002923:Cilia / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins