Ciliogenesis: building the cell's antenna

The cilium is a complex organelle, the assembly of which requires the coordination of motor-driven intraflagellar transport (IFT), membrane trafficking and selective import of cilium-specific proteins through a barrier at the ciliary transition zone. Recent findings provide insights into how cilia assemble and disassemble in synchrony with the cell cycle and how the balance of ciliary assembly and disassembly determines the steady-state ciliary length, with the inherent length-dependence of IFT rendering the ciliary assembly rate a decreasing function of length. As cilia are important in sensing and processing developmental signals and directing the flow of fluids such as mucus, defects in ciliogenesis and length control are likely to underlie a range of cilium-related human diseases.     

Primary cilia: how to keep the riff-raff in the plasma membrane

A recent report suggests that plasma membrane proteins are excluded from primary cilia via anchoring to the cortical actin cytoskeleton. These findings challenge the existence of a diffusion barrier at the base of the cilium.     

Polycystin-2 takes different routes to the somatic and ciliary plasma membrane

Polycystin-2 (also called TRPP2), an integral membrane protein mutated in patients with cystic kidney disease, is located in the primary cilium where it is thought to transmit mechanical stimuli into the cell interior. After studying a series of polycystin-2 deletion mutants we identified two amino acids in loop 4 that were essential for the trafficking of polycystin-2 to the somatic (nonciliary) plasma membrane. However, polycystin-2 mutant proteins in which these two residues were replaced by alanine were still sorted into the cilium, thus indicating that the trafficking routes to the somatic and ciliary plasma membrane compartments are distinct. We also observed that the introduction of dominant-negative Sar1 mutant proteins and treatment of cells with brefeldin A prevented the transport into the ciliary plasma membrane compartment, whereas metabolic labeling experiments, light microscopical imaging, and high-resolution electron microscopy revealed that full-length polycystin-2 did not traverse the Golgi apparatus on its way to the cilium. These data argue that the transport of polycystin-2 to the ciliary and to the somatic plasma membrane compartments originates in a COPII-dependent fashion at the endoplasmic reticulum, that polycystin-2 reaches the cis side of the Golgi apparatus in either case, but that the trafficking to the somatic plasma membrane goes through the Golgi apparatus whereas transport vesicles to the cilium leave the Golgi apparatus at the cis compartment. Such an interpretation is supported by the finding that mycophenolic acid treatment resulted in the colocalization of polycystin-2 with GM130, a marker of the cis-Golgi apparatus. Remarkably, we also observed that wild-type Smoothened, an integral membrane protein involved in hedgehog signaling that under resting conditions resides in the somatic plasma membrane, passed through the Golgi apparatus, but the M2 mutant of Smoothened, which is constitutively located in the ciliary but not in the somatic plasma membrane, does not. Finally, a dominant-negative form of Rab8a, a BBSome-associated monomeric GTPase, prevented the delivery of polycystin-2 to the primary cilium whereas a dominant-negative form of Rab23 showed no inhibitory effect, which is consistent with the view that the ciliary trafficking of polycystin-2 is regulated by the BBSome.     

Plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase isoform 2b interacts preferentially with Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor 2 in apical plasma membranes.

Spatial and temporal regulation of Ca(2+) signaling require the assembly of multiprotein complexes linking molecules involved in Ca(2+) influx, sensing, buffering, and extrusion. Recent evidence indicates that plasma membrane Ca(2+) ATPases (PMCAs) participate in the control of local Ca(2+) fluxes, but the mechanism of multiprotein complex formation of specific PMCAs is poorly understood. Using the PMCA2b COOH-terminal tail as bait in a yeast two-hybrid screen, we identified the PSD-95, Dlg, ZO-1 (PDZ) domain-containing Na(+)/H(+) exchanger regulatory factor-2 (NHERF2) as an interacting partner. Protein pull-down and coimmunoprecipitation experiments using recombinant PMCA2b and PMCA4b as well as NHERF1 and NHERF2 showed that the interaction of PMCA2b with NHERF2 was specific and selective. PMCA4b did not interact with either of the NHERFs, and PMCA2b selectively preferred NHERF2 over NHERF1. Green fluorescent protein-tagged PMCA2b was expressed at the apical membrane in Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells, where it colocalized with apically targeted NHERF2. Our study identifies NHERF2 as the first specific PDZ partner for PMCA2b not shared with PMCA4b, and demonstrates that PMCA splice forms differing only minimally in their COOH-terminal residues interact with unique PDZ proteins. NHERFs have been implicated in the targeting, retention and regulation of membrane proteins including the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, and Trp4 Ca(2+) channel, and NHERF2 is now shown to also interact with PMCA2b. This interaction may allow the functional assembly of PMCA2b in a multiprotein Ca(2+) signaling complex, facilitating integrated cross-talk between local Ca(2+) influx and efflux.     

Extraction of cilium beat parameters by the combined application of photoelectric measurements and computer simulation.

Photoelectric signals were created and used to investigate the features of the signals as a function of the ciliary beat parameters. Moreover, correlation between the simulated and the measured signals permitted measurement of the cilium beat parameters. The simulations of the signals were based on generation of a series of time-frozen top-view frames of an active ciliary area and determination of the amount of light passing through an observation area in each of these frames. All the factors that might contribute to the shape of the signals, namely, partial ciliary transmittance of light, three-dimensional ciliary beat (composed of recovery, effective, and pause parts), phase distribution on the ciliary surface, and the large number of cilia that contribute to the photoelectric signal, were taken into account in generation of the signals. Changes in the ciliary parameters influenced the shape of the photoelectric signals, and the different phases of the beat could not be directly and unequivocally identified in the signals. The degree of temporal asymmetry of the beat and the portion of the cycle occupied by the pause significantly influenced the shapes of both the lower and the upper parts of the signal and the slopes of the signal. Increases in the angle of the arc swept by the cilium during the effective stroke smoothed the signals and increased the duration of the upper part of the signal. The angle of the arc projected by the cilium onto the cell surface during the recovery stroke had minor effects on the signal's shape. Characteristics of the metachronal wave also influenced the signal's shape markedly. Decreases in ciliary spacing smoothed the signals, whereas ciliary length had a minor influence on the simulated photoelectric signals. Comparison of the simulated and the measured signals showed that the beat parameters of the best-fitting simulated signals converged to values that agree well with the accepted range of beat parameters in mucociliary systems.     

The base of the cilium: roles for transition fibres and the transition zone in ciliary formation, maintenance and compartmentalization

Both the basal body and the microtubule-based axoneme it nucleates have evolutionarily conserved subdomains crucial for cilium biogenesis, function and maintenance. Here, we focus on two conspicuous but underappreciated regions of these structures that make membrane connections. One is the basal body distal end, which includes transition fibres of largely undefined composition that link to the base of the ciliary membrane. Transition fibres seem to serve as docking sites for intraflagellar transport particles, which move proteins within the ciliary compartment and are required for cilium biogenesis and sustained function. The other is the proximal-most region of the axoneme, termed the transition zone, which is characterized by Y-shaped linkers that span from the axoneme to the ciliary necklace on the membrane surface. The transition zone comprises a growing number of ciliopathy proteins that function as modular components of a ciliary gate. This gate, which forms early during ciliogenesis, might function in part by regulating intraflagellar transport. Together with a recently described septin ring diffusion barrier at the ciliary base, the transition fibres and transition zone deserve attention for their varied roles in forming functional ciliary compartments.     

Glycosylation can influence topogenesis of membrane proteins and reveals dynamic reorientation of nascent polypeptides within the translocon.

The topology of multispanning membrane proteins in the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum is thought to be dictated primarily by the first hydrophobic sequence. We analyzed the in vivo insertion of a series of chimeric model proteins containing two conflicting signal sequences, i.e., an NH(2)-terminal and an internal signal, each of which normally directs translocation of its COOH-terminal end. When the signals were separated by more than 60 residues, linear insertion with the second signal acting as a stop-transfer sequence was observed. With shorter spacers, an increasing fraction of proteins inserted with a translocated COOH terminus as dictated by the second signal. Whether this resulted from membrane targeting via the second signal was tested by measuring the targeting efficiency of NH(2)-terminal signals followed by polypeptides of different lengths. The results show that targeting is mediated predominantly by the first signal in a protein. Most importantly, we discovered that glycosylation within the spacer sequence affects protein orientation. This indicates that the nascent polypeptide can reorient within the translocation machinery, a process that is blocked by glycosylation. Thus, topogenesis of membrane proteins is a dynamic process in which topogenic information of closely spaced signal and transmembrane sequences is integrated.     

A size-exclusion permeability barrier and nucleoporins characterize a ciliary pore complex that regulates transport into cilia

The cilium is a microtubule-based organelle that contains a unique complement of proteins for cell motility and signalling functions. Entry into the ciliary compartment is proposed to be regulated at the base of the cilium. Recent work demonstrated that components of the nuclear import machinery, including the Ran GTPase and importins, regulate ciliary entry. We hypothesized that the ciliary base contains a ciliary pore complex whose molecular nature and selective mechanism are similar to those of the nuclear pore complex. By microinjecting fluorescently labelled dextrans and recombinant proteins of various sizes, we characterize a size-dependent diffusion barrier for the entry of cytoplasmic molecules into primary cilia in mammalian cells. We demonstrate that nucleoporins localize to the base of primary and motile cilia and that microinjection of nucleoporin-function-blocking reagents blocks the ciliary entry of kinesin-2 KIF17 motors. Together, this work demonstrates that the physical and molecular nature of the ciliary pore complex is similar to that of the nuclear pore complex, and further extends functional parallels between nuclear and ciliary import.     

Rhodopsin transport in the membrane of the connecting cilium of mammalian photoreceptor cells

The transport of the photopigment rhodopsin from the inner segment to the photosensitive outer segment of vertebrate photoreceptor cells has been one of the main remaining mysteries in photoreceptor cell biology. Because of the lack of any direct evidence for the pathway through the photoreceptor cilium, alternative extracellular pathways have been proposed. Our primary aim in the present study was to resolve rhodopsin trafficking from the inner to the outer segment. We demonstrate, predominantly by high-sensitive immunoelectron microscopy, that rhodopsin is also densely packed in the membrane of the photoreceptor connecting cilium. Present prominent labeling of rhodopsin in the ciliary membrane provides the first striking evidence that rhodopsin is translocated from the inner segment to the outer segment of wild type photoreceptors via the ciliary membrane. At the ciliary membrane rhodopsin co-localizes with the unconventional myosin VIIa, the product of human Usher syndrome 1B gene. Furthermore, axonemal actin was identified in the photoreceptor cilium, which is spatially co-localized with myosin VIIa and opsin. This actin cytoskeleton of the cilium may provide the structural bases for myosin VIIa-linked ciliary trafficking of membrane components, including rhodopsin.     

Recruitment and membrane interactions of host cell proteins during attachment of enteropathogenic and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli

EPEC (enteropathogenic Escherichia coli) and EHEC (enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli) are attaching and effacing pathogens frequently associated with infectious diarrhoea. EPEC and EHEC use a T3SS (type III secretion system) to translocate effectors that subvert different cellular processes to sustain colonization and multiplication. The eukaryotic proteins NHERF2 (Na(+)/H(+) exchanger regulatory factor 2) and AnxA2 (annexin A2), which are involved in regulation of intestinal ion channels, are recruited to the bacterial attachment sites. Using a stable HeLa-NHERF2 cell line, we found partial co-localization of AnxA2 and NHERF2; in EPEC-infected cells, AnxA2 and NHERF2 were extensively recruited to the site of bacterial attachment. We confirmed that NHERF2 dimerizes and found that NHERF2 interacts with AnxA2. Moreover, we found that AnxA2 also binds both the N- and C-terminal domains of the bacterial effector Tir through its C-terminal domain. Immunofluorescence of HeLa cells infected with EPEC showed that AnxA2 is recruited to the site of bacterial attachment in a Tir-dependent manner, but independently of Tir-induced actin polymerization. Our results suggest that AnxA2 and NHERF2 form a scaffold complex that links adjacent Tir molecules at the plasma membrane forming a lattice that could be involved in retention and dissemination of other effectors at the bacterial attachment site.     

Membrane renewal after dibucaine deciliation of Tetrahymena: Freeze-fracture technique,cilia, membrane structure

Axenic late log phase cultures of Tetrahymena pyriformis DN-B3 are deciliated by treatment with dibucaine. Deciliation occurs first at the anterior end of the cell and then progresses posteriorly. Concomitantly, all mature mucocysts are induced to discharge by the drug. The exact point of scission of each cilium is found to be a very localized region, between two specialized membrane arrays: the ciliary necklace and the ciliary patches, situated at the base of the cilium. Isolated cilia retain the patches, while the necklaces remain with the deciliated bodies. The cell membrane seals over the stubs. The new ciliary membrane then grows out above the necklace without the patches, which do not generally appear for several hours. Membrane renewal is therefore asynchronous, with bulk growth preceding the formation of specialized intramembrane particle arrays. During regrowth, the cilia also first return at the anterior end of the cell. This suggests that underlying gradients, perhaps related to Ca²⁺, are significant in the deciliation process.     

Topo-optical study of the pulmonary ciliary membrane surface.

In hydrophilic media of high refraction index the cilia of the epithelium of the tracheo-bronchial mucous membrane and the mucous film demonstrate birefringence positive to the longitudinal axis of the mucous membrane owing to the identical orientation the glycoprotein macromolecules and of the fatty acid chains of the ciliary membrane. By means of toluidine blue staining the mucous film and the ciliary zone can be studied selectively by polarization microscopy. The opposite optical character suggests that the dye molecules are perpendicularly connected to the long glycoprotein chains of the mucous, and there is an oriented connection perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cilium in its lipid membrane. In smears of bronchial secretion or mucous membrane scrapings after staining, with toluidine blue pH 7.0, the selective optical reaction of the cilia provides a possibility for the study of isolated desquamated ciliary cells. The reaction is given by the lipid membrane boundary of the cilia. In embedded, lipid-extracted sections, the cilia and the mucous film show a minimum of birefringence in the unstained state. After toluidine blue staining or aldehyde-bisulphite-toluidine blue (ABT) reaction the mucoid surface and the ciliary zone display an opposite optical reaction originating from the dehydrated mucoproteins adsorbed onto the surface of lipid-extracted cilia.     

The ciliary pocket: a once-forgotten membrane domain at the base of cilia

The PC (primary cilium) is present on most cell types in both developing and adult tissues in vertebrates. Despite multiple reports in the 1960s, the PC was almost forgotten for decades by most of the cell biology community, mainly because its function appeared enigmatic. This situation changed 10 years ago with the key discovery that this fascinating structure is the missing link between complex genetic diseases and key signalling pathways during development and tissue homoeostasis. A similar misfortune might have happened to an original membrane domain found at the base of PC in most cell types and recently termed the ‘ciliary pocket’. A morphologically related structure has also been described at the connecting cilium of photoreceptors and at the flagellum in spermatids. Its organization is also reminiscent of the flagellar pocket, a plasma membrane invagination specialized in uptake and secretion encountered in kinetoplastid protozoa. The exact function of the ciliary pocket remains to be established, but the recent observation of endocytic activity coupled to the fact that vesicular trafficking plays important roles during ciliogenesis brought excitement in the ciliary community. Here, we have tried to decipher what this highly conserved membrane domain could tell us about the function and/or biogenesis of the associated cilium.     

Increased diffusional mobility of CFTR at the plasma membrane after deletion of its C-terminal PDZ binding motif

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein is a cAMP-regulated Cl- channel expressed at the apical plasma membrane. It has been proposed that the C-terminal PDZ binding motif of CFTR is required for its apical membrane targeting and that PDZ-domain interactions may tether CFTR to the actin cytoskeleton via soluble proteins including EBP50/NHERF1 and ezrin. We measured the diffusional mobility of human CFTR in the plasma membrane of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells by photobleaching of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-CFTR chimeras. After bleaching by a focused laser beam, GFP-CFTR fluorescence in the bleached membrane region recovered to approximately 90% of its initial level, indicating that nearly all of the CFTR was mobile. The GFP-CFTR diffusion coefficient (D) was 0.99 +/- 0.09 x 10(-10) cm2/s at 37 degrees C, similar to that of other membrane proteins. GFP-CFTR diffusion was not altered by protein kinase A or C activators but was blocked by paraformaldehyde and filipin. CFTR mutants lacking functional PDZ-binding domains (GFPCFTR-DeltaTRL and GFP-CFTR-DeltaTRA) were also mobile with D significantly increased by approximately 60% compared with GFP-CFTR. However, GFP-CFTR, GFP-CFTR-Delta TRL, and GFP-CFTR-DeltaTRA had similar mobilities (D approximately 12 x 10(-10) cm2/s) at the endoplasmic reticulum in brefeldin A-treated cells. Agents that modulate the actin cytoskeleton (cytochalasin D and jasplakinolide) altered the plasma membrane mobility of CFTR but not CFTR- DeltaTRL. EBP50 (NHERF1), a PDZ domain-containing protein that interacts with the C terminus of CFTR, diffused freely in the cytoplasm with a diffusion coefficient of 0.9 +/- 0.1 x 10(-7) cm2/s. EBP50 diffusion increased by approximately 2-fold after deletion of its ezrin-binding domain. These results indicate that wild-type CFTR is not tethered statically at the plasma membrane but that its diffusion is dependent on PDZ-domain interactions and an intact actin skeleton. PDZ-domain interactions of CFTR are thus dynamic and occur on a time scale of seconds or faster.     

Carbohydrate-mediated Golgi to cell surface transport and apical targeting of membrane proteins.

Polarized expression of most epithelial plasma membrane proteins is achieved by selective transport from the Golgi apparatus or from endosomes to a specific cell surface domain. In Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, basolateral sorting generally depends on distinct cytoplasmic targeting determinants. Inactivation of these signals often resulted in apical expression, suggesting that apical transport of transmembrane proteins occurs either by default or is mediated by widely distributed characteristics of membrane glycoproteins. We tested the hypothesis of N-linked carbohydrates acting as apical targeting signals using three different membrane proteins. The first two are normally not glycosylated and the third one is a glycoprotein. In all three cases, N-linked carbohydrates were clearly able to mediate apical targeting and transport. Cell surface transport of proteins containing cytoplasmic basolateral targeting determinants was not significantly affected by N-linked sugars. In the absence of glycosylation and a basolateral sorting signal, the reporter proteins accumulated in the Golgi complex of MDCK as well as CHO cells, indicating that efficient transport from the Golgi apparatus to the cell surface is signal-mediated in polarized and non-polarized cells.     

A core complex of BBS proteins cooperates with the GTPase Rab8 to promote ciliary membrane biogenesis

Primary cilium dysfunction underlies the pathogenesis of Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a genetic disorder whose symptoms include obesity, retinal degeneration, and nephropathy. However, despite the identification of 12 BBS genes, the molecular basis of BBS remains elusive. Here we identify a complex composed of seven highly conserved BBS proteins. This complex, the BBSome, localizes to nonmembranous centriolar satellites in the cytoplasm but also to the membrane of the cilium. Interestingly, the BBSome is required for ciliogenesis but is dispensable for centriolar satellite function. This ciliogenic function is mediated in part by the Rab8 GDP/GTP exchange factor, which localizes to the basal body and contacts the BBSome. Strikingly, Rab8(GTP) enters the primary cilium and promotes extension of the ciliary membrane. Conversely, preventing Rab8(GTP) production blocks ciliation in cells and yields characteristic BBS phenotypes in zebrafish. Our data reveal that BBS may be caused by defects in vesicular transport to the cilium.     

The intraflagellar transport protein IFT20 is associated with the Golgi complex and is required for cilia assembly

Eukaryotic cilia are assembled via intraflagellar transport (IFT) in which large protein particles are motored along ciliary microtubules. The IFT particles are composed of at least 17 polypeptides that are thought to contain binding sites for various cargos that need to be transported from their site of synthesis in the cell body to the site of assembly in the cilium. We show here that the IFT20 subunit of the particle is localized to the Golgi complex in addition to the basal body and cilia where all previous IFT particle proteins had been found. In living cells, fluorescently tagged IFT20 is highly dynamic and moves between the Golgi complex and the cilium as well as along ciliary microtubules. Strong knock down of IFT20 in mammalian cells blocks ciliary assembly but does not affect Golgi structure. Moderate knockdown does not block cilia assembly but reduces the amount of polycystin-2 that is localized to the cilia. This work suggests that IFT20 functions in the delivery of ciliary membrane proteins from the Golgi complex to the cilium.     

Control of the ciliary beat by cyclic nucleotides in intact cortical sheets from Paramecium

The locomotor behavior of Paramecium depends on the ciliary beat direction and beat frequency. Changes in the ciliary beat are controlled by a signal transduction mechanism that follows changes in the membrane potential. These events take place in cilia covered with a ciliary membrane. To determine the effects of second messengers in the cilia, cortical sheets were used with intact ciliary membrane as a half-closed system in which each cilium is covered with a ciliary membrane with an opening to the cell body. Cyclic nucleotides and their derivatives applied from an opening to the cell body affected the ciliary beat. cAMP and 8-Br-cAMP increased the beat frequency and the efficiency of propulsion and acted antagonistically to the action of Ca(2+). cGMP and 8-Br-cGMP increased the efficiency of propulsion accompanying clear metachronal waves but decreased the beat frequency. These results indicate that the cyclic nucleotides affect target proteins in the ciliary axonemes surrounded by the ciliary membrane without a membrane potential and increase the efficiency of propulsion of the ciliary beat. In vitro phosphorylation of isolated ciliary axonemes in the presence of cyclic nucleotides and their derivatives revealed that the action of cAMP was correlated with the phosphorylation of 29-kDa and 65-kDa proteins and that the action of cGMP was correlated with the phosphorylation of a 42-kDa protein.     

PDZ proteins retain and regulate membrane transporters in polarized epithelial cell membranes

PDZ proteins retain and regulate membrane transporters in polarized epithelial cell membranes. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 288: C20–C29, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00368.2004.—The plasma membrane of epithelial cells is subdivided into two physically separated compartments known as the apical and basolateral membranes. To obtain directional transepithelial solute transport, membrane transporters (i.e., ion channels, cotransporters, exchangers, and ion pumps) need to be targeted selectively to either of these membrane domains. In addition, the transport properties of an epithelial cell will be maintained only if these membrane transporters are retained and properly regulated in their specific membrane compartments. Recent reports have indicated that PDZ domain-containing proteins play a dual role in these processes and, in addition, that different apical and basolateral PDZ proteins perform similar tasks in their respective membrane domains. First, although PDZ-based interactions are dispensable for the biosynthetic targeting to the proper membrane domain, the PDZ network ensures that the membrane proteins are efficiently retained at the cell surface. Second, the close spatial positioning of functionally related proteins (e.g., receptors, kinases, channels) into a signal transduction complex (transducisome) allows fast and efficient control of membrane transport processes. retention of apical and basolateral membrane proteins; transducisomes; protein complex formation