Proteins that control the geometry of microtubules at the ends of cilia

Louka et al. describe three conserved proteins that regulate the positions of microtubule ends near the tips of cilia. Mutations in two of these proteins cause a brain malformation, Joubert syndrome. Thus, microtubule ends in cilia may play a role in the pathology of Joubert syndrome.

Cilia, essential motile and sensory organelles, have several compartments: the basal body, transition zone, and the middle and distal axoneme segments. The distal segment accommodates key functions, including cilium assembly and sensory activities. While the middle segment contains doublet microtubules (incomplete B-tubules fused to complete A-tubules), the distal segment contains only A-tubule extensions, and its existence requires coordination of microtubule length at the nanometer scale. We show that three conserved proteins, two of which are mutated in the ciliopathy Joubert syndrome, determine the geometry of the distal segment, by controlling the positions of specific microtubule ends. FAP256/CEP104 promotes A-tubule elongation. CHE-12/Crescerin and ARMC9 act as positive and negative regulators of B-tubule length, respectively. We show that defects in the distal segment dimensions are associated with motile and sensory deficiencies of cilia. Our observations suggest that abnormalities in distal segment organization cause a subset of Joubert syndrome cases.

FAP206 is a microtubule-docking adapter for ciliary radial spoke 2 and dynein c

Radial spokes are conserved macromolecular complexes that are essential for ciliary motility. Little is known about the assembly and functions of the three individual radial spokes, RS1, RS2, and RS3. In Tetrahymena, a conserved ciliary protein, FAP206, docks RS2 and dynein c to the doublet microtubule.

Radial spokes are conserved macromolecular complexes that are essential for ciliary motility. A triplet of three radial spokes, RS1, RS2, and RS3, repeats every 96 nm along the doublet microtubules. Each spoke has a distinct base that docks to the doublet and is linked to different inner dynein arms. Little is known about the assembly and functions of individual radial spokes. A knockout of the conserved ciliary protein FAP206 in the ciliate Tetrahymena resulted in slow cell motility. Cryo–electron tomography showed that in the absence of FAP206, the 96-nm repeats lacked RS2 and dynein c. Occasionally, RS2 assembled but lacked both the front prong of its microtubule base and dynein c, whose tail is attached to the front prong. Overexpressed GFP-FAP206 decorated nonciliary microtubules in vivo. Thus FAP206 is likely part of the front prong and docks RS2 and dynein c to the microtubule.

A role for the membrane in regulating Chlamydomonas flagellar length

Flagellar assembly requires coordination between the assembly of axonemal proteins and the assembly of the flagellar membrane and membrane proteins. Fully grown steady-state Chlamydomonas flagella release flagellar vesicles from their tips and failure to resupply membrane should affect flagellar length. To study vesicle release, plasma and flagellar membrane surface proteins were vectorially pulse-labeled and flagella and vesicles were analyzed for biotinylated proteins. Based on the quantity of biotinylated proteins in purified vesicles, steady-state flagella appeared to shed a minimum of 16% of their surface membrane per hour, equivalent to a complete flagellar membrane being released every 6 hrs or less. Brefeldin-A destroyed Chlamydomonas Golgi, inhibited the secretory pathway, inhibited flagellar regeneration, and induced full-length flagella to disassemble within 6 hrs, consistent with flagellar disassembly being induced by a failure to resupply membrane. In contrast to membrane lipids, a pool of biotinylatable membrane proteins was identified that was sufficient to resupply flagella as they released vesicles for 6 hrs in the absence of protein synthesis and to support one and nearly two regenerations of flagella following amputation. These studies reveal the importance of the secretory pathway to assemble and maintain full-length flagella.

Discovery and functional evaluation of ciliary proteins in Tetrahymena thermophila

The ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila is an excellent model system for the discovery and functional studies of ciliary proteins. The power of the model is based on the ease with which cilia can be purified in large quantities for fractionation and proteomic identification, and the ability to knock out any gene by homologous DNA recombination. Here, we include methods used by our laboratories for isolation and fractionation of cilia, in vivo tagging and localization of ciliary proteins, and the evaluation of ciliary mutants.

Recording and analyzing IFT in Chlamydomonas flagella

The transport of materials to and from the cell body and tips of eukaryotic flagella and cilia is carried out by a process called intraflagellar transport, or IFT. This process is essential for the assembly and maintenance of cilia and flagella: in the absence of IFT, cilia cannot assemble and, if IFT is arrested in ciliated cells, the cilia disassemble. The major IFT complex proteins and the major motor proteins, kinesin-2 and osm-3 (which transport particles from the cell body to ciliary tips) and cytoplasmic dynein 1b (which transports particles from ciliary tips to the cell body) have been identified. However, we have little understanding of the structure of the IFT particles, the cargo that these particles carry, how cargo is loaded and unloaded from the particles, or how the motor proteins are regulated. The focus of this chapter is to provide methods to observe and quantify the movements of IFT particles in Chlamydomonas flagella. IFT movements can be visualized in paralyzed or partially arrested flagella using either differential interference contrast (IFT) microscopy or, in cells with fluorescently tagged IFT components, with fluorescence microscopy. Methods for recording IFT movements and analyzing movements using kymograms are described.

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) during assembly and disassembly of Chlamydomonas flagella

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) of particles along flagellar microtubules is required for the assembly and maintenance of eukaryotic flagella and cilia. In Chlamydomonas, anterograde and retrograde particles viewed by light microscopy average 0.12-microm and 0.06-microm diameter, respectively. Examination of IFT particle structure in growing flagella by electron microscopy revealed similar size aggregates composed of small particles linked to each other and to the membrane and microtubules. To determine the relationship between the number of particles and flagellar length, the rate and frequency of IFT particle movement was measured in nongrowing, growing, and shortening flagella. In all flagella, anterograde and retrograde IFT averaged 1.9 microm/s and 2.7 microm/s, respectively, but retrograde IFT was significantly slower in flagella shorter than 4 mum. The number of flagellar IFT particles was not fixed, but depended on flagellar length. Pauses in IFT particle entry into flagella suggest the presence of a periodic "gate" that permits up to 4 particles/s to enter a flagellum.

Disulfide bond formation promotes the cis- and trans-dimerization of the E-cadherin-derived first repeat

Cadherin is a cell adhesion molecule crucial for epithelial and endothelial cell monolayer integrity. The previously solved x-ray crystallographic structure of the E-CAD12 cis-dimer displayed an unpaired Cys(9), which protruded away from the Cys(9) on the other protomer. To investigate the possible biological function of Cys(9) within the first repeat (the E-cadherin-derived N-terminal repeat), E-CAD1 was overexpressed and secreted into the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli cells. Recombinant E-CAD1 produced a mixed monomer and dimer in an equilibrium fashion. The dimer was linked by a disulfide through Cys(9) pairing. Analysis by high pressure liquid chromatography and electron microscopy suggested the existence of oligomeric complexes. Mutation at Trp(2) appears to indicate that these oligomeric complexes trans-dimerize. Interestingly, mutation of Cys(9) affected not only the cis-dimerization, but also the trans-oligomerization of E-CAD1. Accordingly, it is plausible that, under oxidative stress, the homophilic interactions of E-cadherin through E-CAD1 may be promoted and stabilized by this disulfide bond.

Cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain 1b is required for flagellar assembly in Chlamydomonas

A second cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain (cDhc) has recently been identified in several organisms, and its expression pattern is consistent with a possible role in axoneme assembly. We have used a genetic approach to ask whether cDhc1b is involved in flagellar assembly in Chlamydomonas. Using a modified PCR protocol, we recovered two cDhc sequences distinct from the axonemal Dhc sequences identified previously. cDhc1a is closely related to the major cytoplasmic Dhc, whereas cDhc1b is closely related to the minor cDhc isoform identified in sea urchins, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Tetrahymena. The Chlamydomonas cDhc1b transcript is a low-abundance mRNA whose expression is enhanced by deflagellation. To determine its role in flagellar assembly, we screened a collection of stumpy flagellar (stf) mutants generated by insertional mutagenesis and identified two strains in which portions of the cDhc1b gene have been deleted. The two mutants assemble short flagellar stumps (<1-2 micrometer) filled with aberrant microtubules, raft-like particles, and other amorphous material. The results indicate that cDhc1b is involved in the transport of components required for flagellar assembly in Chlamydomonas.