Evolutionary implications of localization of the signaling scaffold protein parafusin to both cilia and the nucleus.

Parafusin (PFUS), a 63 kDa protein first discovered in the eukaryote Paramecium and known for its role in apicomplexan exocytosis, provides a model for the common origin of cellular systems employing scaffold proteins for targeting and signaling. PFUS is closely related to eubacterial rather than archeal phosphoglucomutases (PGM) - as we proved by comparison of their 88 sequences - but has no PGM activity. Immunofluorescence microscopy analysis with a PFUS-specific peptide antibody showed presence of this protein around the base region of primary cilia in a variety of mammalian cell types, including mouse embryonic (MEFs) and human foreskin fibroblasts (hFFs), human carcinoma stem cells (NT-2 cells), and human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Further, PFUS localized to the nucleus of fibroblasts, and prominently to nucleoli of MEFs. Localization studies were confirmed by Western blot analysis, showing that the PFUS antibody specifically recognizes a single protein of ca. 63 kDa in both cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions. Finally, immunofluorescence microscopy analysis showed that PFUS localized to nuclei and cilia in Paramecium. These results support the suggestion that PFUS plays a role in signaling between nucleus and cilia, and that the cilium and the nucleus both evolved around the time of eukaryotic emergence. We hypothesize that near the beginnings of eukaryotic cell evolution, scaffold proteins such as PFUS arose as peripheral membrane protein identifiers for cytoplasmic membrane trafficking and were employed similarly during the subsequent evolution of exocytic, nuclear transport, and ciliogenic mechanisms.

PDGFRα signaling in the primary cilium regulates NHE1-dependent fibroblast migration via coordinated differential activity of MEK1/2-ERK1/2-p90RSK and AKT signaling pathways.

In fibroblasts, platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) is upregulated during growth arrest and compartmentalized to the primary cilium. PDGF-AA mediated activation of the dimerized ciliary receptor produces a phosphorylation cascade through the PI3K-AKT and MEK1/2-ERK1/2 pathways leading to the activation of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger, NHE1, cytoplasmic alkalinization and actin nucleation at the lamellipodium that supports directional cell migration. We here show that AKT and MEK1/2-ERK1/2-p90(RSK) inhibition reduced PDGF-AA-induced cell migration by distinct mechanisms: AKT inhibition reduced NHE1 activity by blocking the translocation of NHE1 to the cell membrane. MEK1/2 inhibition did not affect NHE1 activity but influenced NHE1 localization, causing NHE1 to localize discontinuously in patches along the plasma membrane, rather than preferentially at the lamellipodium. We also provide direct evidence of NHE1 translocation through the cytoplasm to the leading edge. In conclusion, signals initiated at the primary cilium through the PDGFRαα cascade reorganize the cytoskeleton to regulate cell migration differentially through the AKT and the MEK1/2-ERK1/2-p90(RSK) pathways. The AKT pathway is necessary for initiation of NHE1 translocation, presumably in vesicles, to the leading edge and for its activation. In contrast, the MEK1/2-ERK1/2-p90(RSK) pathway controls the spatial organization of NHE1 translocation and incorporation, and therefore specifies the direction of the leading edge formation.

Primary cilia and coordination of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signalling.

Primary cilia are microtubule-based sensory organelles that coordinate signalling pathways in cell-cycle control, migration, differentiation and other cellular processes critical during development and for tissue homeostasis. Accordingly, defects in assembly or function of primary cilia lead to a plethora of developmental disorders and pathological conditions now known as ciliopathies. In this review, we summarize the current status of the role of primary cilia in coordinating receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signalling pathways. Further, we present potential mechanisms of signalling crosstalk and networking in the primary cilium and discuss how defects in ciliary RTK signalling are linked to human diseases and disorders.

Controlling the direction of division.

Quyn and colleagues report that gut stem cells have a biased spindle orientation and asymmetric retention of label-retaining DNA. These features are lost in mouse and human tissues when the microtubule binding protein Apc is mutated. In the developing kidney, Apc acts downstream from primary cilium signaling to influence spindle orientation when noncanonical Wnt signaling predominates. Do gut stem cells also have primary cilia?

Directional cell migration and chemotaxis in wound healing response to PDGF-AA are coordinated by the primary cilium in fibroblasts.

Cell motility and migration play pivotal roles in numerous physiological and pathophysiological processes including development and tissue repair. Cell migration is regulated through external stimuli such as platelet-derived growth factor-AA (PDGF-AA), a key regulator in directional cell migration during embryonic development and a chemoattractant during postnatal migratory responses including wound healing. We previously showed that PDGFRalpha signaling is coordinated by the primary cilium in quiescent cells. However, little is known about the function of the primary cilium in cell migration. Here we used micropipette analysis to show that a normal chemosensory response to PDGF-AA in fibroblasts requires the primary cilium. In vitro and in vivo wound healing assays revealed that in ORPK mouse (IFT88(Tg737Rpw)) fibroblasts, where ciliary assembly is defective, chemotaxis towards PDGF-AA is absent, leading to unregulated high speed and uncontrolled directional cell displacement during wound closure, with subsequent defects in wound healing. These data suggest that in coordination with cytoskeletal reorganization, the fibroblast primary cilium functions via ciliary PDGFRalpha signaling to monitor directional movement during wound healing.

Coordination of outer arm dynein activity along axonemal doublet microtubules.

This study considers the mechanism by which ODA based sliding is produced and the relationship of that mechanism to the determination of beat frequency. Two models of activity have been examined: a stochastic model, where ODA activity is random and a metachronal model, where activity is sequentially triggered along a doublet. Inactivation of a few ODAs would have virtually no effect on stochastic activity, but would completely block metachronal activity. We (Seetharam and Satir [2005]: Cell Motil Cytoskeleton 60:96-103) previously demonstrated that ODAs produce high speed sliding of about 200 mum/s, followed by a pause. IDAs produce slow, 5 mum/s, continuous sliding. We have examined the effects of nM concentrations of vanadate on sliding, measuring velocity and extent of high speed sliding and pause distribution or sliding cessation. In 5 nM vanadate, where photocleavage experiments show about 16/270 ODAs per doublet are affected, no differences from control are seen, but at 10 and 25 nM vanadate, high speed velocity is greatly reduced and pause distribution changes. The results support a model, in which high speed sliding is produced by metachronal activity. Blockage of two or more heavy chains of one ODA or a small group of adjacent ODAs produces cessation of sliding, but cessation is only temporary, probably because IDA activity continues, allowing ODA activity re-initiation beyond the block. These conclusions are consistent with Sugino and Naitoh's [1982; Nature 295:609-611] proposal, whereby during each beat, every ODA along a doublet becomes activated in succession, with repetitive activation determining beat frequency.

Human embryonic stem cells in culture possess primary cilia with hedgehog signaling machinery.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are potential therapeutic tools and models of human development. With a growing interest in primary cilia in signal transduction pathways that are crucial for embryological development and tissue differentiation and interest in mechanisms regulating human hESC differentiation, demonstrating the existence of primary cilia and the localization of signaling components in undifferentiated hESCs establishes a mechanistic basis for the regulation of hESC differentiation. Using electron microscopy (EM), immunofluorescence, and confocal microscopies, we show that primary cilia are present in three undifferentiated hESC lines. EM reveals the characteristic 9 + 0 axoneme. The number and length of cilia increase after serum starvation. Important components of the hedgehog (Hh) pathway, including smoothened, patched 1 (Ptc1), and Gli1 and 2, are present in the cilia. Stimulation of the pathway results in the concerted movement of Ptc1 out of, and smoothened into, the primary cilium as well as up-regulation of GLI1 and PTC1. These findings show that hESCs contain primary cilia associated with working Hh machinery.

Cilia biology: stop overeating now!

Knocking out primary cilia of adult mouse tissues or a specific subset of cilia from POMC-expressing neurons in the brain initiates uncontrolled eating. This behavior leads to obesity and kidney disease.

Evolution and persistence of the cilium.

The origin of cilia, a fundamental eukaryotic organelle, not present in prokaryotes, poses many problems, including the origins of motility and sensory function, the origins of nine-fold symmetry, of basal bodies, and of transport and selective mechanisms involved in ciliogenesis. We propose the basis of ciliary origin to be a self-assembly RNA enveloped virus that contains unique tubulin and tektin precursors. The virus becomes the centriole and basal body, which would account for the self-assembly and self-replicative properties of these organelles, in contrast to previous proposals of spirochaete origin or endogenous differentiation, which do not readily account for the centriole or its properties. The viral envelope evolves into a sensory bud. The host cell supplies the transport machinery and molecular motors to construct the axoneme. Polymerization of cytoplasmic microtubules in the 9+0 axoneme completes the 9+2 pattern.

Sensory cilia and integration of signal transduction in human health and disease.

The primary cilium is a hallmark of mammalian tissue cells. Recent research has shown that these organelles display unique sets of selected signal transduction modules including receptors, ion channels, effector proteins and transcription factors that relay chemical and physical stimuli from the extracellular environment in order to control basic cellular processes during embryonic and postnatal development, as well as in tissue homeostasis in adulthood. Consequently, defects in building of the cilium or in transport or function of ciliary signal proteins are associated with a series of pathologies, including developmental disorders and cancer. In this review, we highlight recent examples of the mechanisms by which signal components are selectively targeted and transported to the ciliary membrane and we present an overview of the signal transduction pathways associated with primary and motile cilia in vertebrate cells, including platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFRalpha), hedgehog and Wnt signaling pathways. Finally, we discuss the functions of these cilia-associated signal transduction pathways and their role in human health and development.

PDGFRalphaalpha signaling is regulated through the primary cilium in fibroblasts.

Recent findings show that cilia are sensory organelles that display specific receptors and ion channels, which transmit signals from the extracellular environment via the cilium to the cell to control tissue homeostasis and function. Agenesis of primary cilia or mislocation of ciliary signal components affects human pathologies, such as polycystic kidney disease and disorders associated with Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Primary cilia are essential for hedgehog ligand-induced signaling cascade regulating growth and patterning. Here, we show that the primary cilium in fibroblasts plays a critical role in growth control via platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha), which localizes to the primary cilium during growth arrest in NIH3T3 cells and primary cultures of mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Ligand-dependent activation of PDGFRalphaalpha is followed by activation of Akt and the Mek1/2-Erk1/2 pathways, with Mek1/2 being phosphorylated within the cilium and at the basal body. Fibroblasts derived from Tg737(orpk) mutants fail to form normal cilia and to upregulate the level of PDGFRalpha; PDGF-AA fails to activate PDGFRalphaalpha and the Mek1/2-Erk1/2 pathway. Signaling through PDGFRbeta, which localizes to the plasma membrane, is maintained at comparable levels in wild-type and mutant cells. We propose that ciliary PDGFRalphaalpha signaling is linked to tissue homeostasis and to mitogenic signaling pathways.

High speed sliding of axonemal microtubules produced by outer arm dynein.

To study dynein arm activity at high temporal resolution, axonemal sliding was measured field by field for wild type and dynein arm mutants of Tetrahymena thermophila. For wt SB255 cells, when the rate of data acquisition was 60 fps, about 5x greater than previously published observations, sliding was observed to be discontinuous with very high velocity sliding (average 196 microm/sec) for a few msec (1 or 2 fields) followed by a pause of several fields. The sliding velocities measured were an order of magnitude greater than rates previously measured by video analysis. However, when the data were analyzed at 12 fps for the same axonemes, consistent with previous observations, sliding was linear as the axonemes extended several times their original length with an average velocity of approximately 10 microm/sec. The pauses or stops occurred at approximately 200 and 300% of the initial length, suggesting that dynein arms on one axonemal doublet were initially active to the limit of extension, and then the arms on the next doublet became activated. In contrast, in a mutant where OADs are missing, sliding observed at 60 fps was continuous and slow (5 microm/sec), as opposed to the discontinuous high-velocity sliding of SB255 and of the mutant at the permissive temperature where OADs are present. High-velocity step-wise sliding was also present in axonemes from an inner arm dynein mutant (KO6). These results indicate that the high-speed discontinuous pattern of sliding is produced by the mechanochemical activity of outer arm dynein. The rate of sliding is consistent with a low duty ratio of the outer arm dynein and with the operation of each arm along a doublet once per beat.

Microtubule-dependent movement of late endocytic vesicles in vitro: requirements for Dynein and Kinesin.

Our previous studies demonstrated that fluorescent early endocytic vesicles prepared from rat liver after injection of Texas red asialoorosomucoid contain asialoglycoprotein and its receptor and move and undergo fission along microtubules using kinesin I and KIFC2, with Rab4 regulating KIFC2 activity (J. Cell Sci. 116, 2749, 2003). In the current study, procedures to prepare fluorescent late endocytic vesicles were devised. In addition, flow cytometry was utilized to prepare highly purified fluorescent endocytic vesicles, permitting validation of microscopy-based experiments as well as direct biochemical analysis. These studies revealed that late vesicles bound to and moved along microtubules, but in contrast to early vesicles, did not undergo fission. As compared with early vesicles, late vesicles had reduced association with receptor, Rab4, and kinesin I but were highly associated with dynein, Rab7, dynactin, and KIF3A. Dynein and KIF3A antibodies inhibited late vesicle motility, whereas kinesin I and KIFC2 antibodies had no effect. Dynamitin antibodies prevented the association of late vesicles with microtubules. These results indicate that acquisition and exchange of specific motor and regulatory proteins characterizes and may regulate the transition of early to late endocytic vesicles. Flow cytometric purification should ultimately facilitate detailed proteomic analysis and mapping of endocytic vesicle-associated proteins.