Thousands of tiny hairs on your cells are coordinated by a microscopic latchbolt that locks them into the same direction.
Cilia are hair-like structures that must all beat in unison to move mucus out of your lungs or fluid through your brain. Researchers discovered a specific protein called Ccdc57 that acts as a mechanical lock inside the base of each hair. This latchbolt ensures that every single cilium is perfectly oriented before it starts to move. Without this lock, the hairs would beat randomly and fail to move any fluid at all. This discovery explains how complex tissues manage to stay organized at a microscopic level. It could lead to new treatments for genetic disorders where these hairs fail to function correctly.
Basal body contains a “latchbolt” to enable directional ciliary beat across epithelia
research_square · rs-3499253
Abstract Motile cilia unify the orientation of their 9+2 axonemes across epithelia to drive directional liquid flows for various physiological functions. This planar polarity is believed to result from cytoskeleton-driven swiveling of the basal foot (BF), a basal body (BB) appendage that marks the axonemal orientation, in response to intrinsic and extrinsic cues. How and when the BF-axoneme relationship is established, however, are basic issues unaddressed. Here, we show that BFs and axonemal or