Intraflagellar transport trains can switch rails and move along multiple microtubules in intact primary cilia.

ABSTRACT: Structural homeostasis and proper distributions of signaling molecules in cilia require a constant flow of cargoes carried by intraflagellar transport (IFT) trains in both anterograde and retrograde directions within the thin, long ciliary shafts. In the motile cilium framework, the nine microtubule doublets of the same length serve as the transportation rails, and a preferential association to the two subtubules of the microtubule doublets prevents collisions among the IFT trains that move in opposite directions. However, this mechanism is incompatible with the primary cilia structure, where most of the nine microtubule doublets terminate in the ciliary shafts-only several of them reach the ciliary tip and only in a singlet form. Here, we demonstrate that anterograde and retrograde trains

SUBMITTER: Sun S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12037007 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature