A molecular ruler determines the repeat length in eukaryotic cilia and flagella

Existence of cellular structures with specific size raises a fundamental question in biology: How do cells measure length? One conceptual answer to this question is by a molecular ruler, but examples of such rulers in eukaryotes are lacking. In this work, we identified a molecular ruler in eukaryoti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2014-11, Vol.346 (6211), p.857-860
Main Authors: Oda, Toshiyuki, Yanagisawa, Haruaki, Kamiya, Ritsu, Kikkawa, Masahide
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Axonemal Dyneins - chemistry
Axonemal Dyneins - genetics
Axonemal Dyneins - ultrastructure
Biochemistry
Biology
Cell motility
Cellular biology
Chlamydomonas - physiology
Chlamydomonas - ultrastructure
Cilia
Cilia - physiology
Cilia - ultrastructure
Duplication
Eukaryotes
Eukaryotic Cells - physiology
Eukaryotic Cells - ultrastructure
Flagella
Flagella - physiology
Flagella - ultrastructure
Genetics
Genomics
Intervals
Measuring rulers
Molecular biology
Molecular structure
Nanostructure
Periodicity
Protein Conformation
Proteins
Repetitive stress injuries
Reproduction
Stop codon
Tomography
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Summary:Existence of cellular structures with specific size raises a fundamental question in biology: How do cells measure length? One conceptual answer to this question is by a molecular ruler, but examples of such rulers in eukaryotes are lacking. In this work, we identified a molecular ruler in eukaryotic cilia and flagella. Using cryo-electron tomography, we found that FAP59 and FAP172 form a 96–nanometer (nm)–long complex in Chlamydomonas flagella and that the absence of the complex disrupted 96-nm repeats of axonemes. Furthermore, lengthening of the FAP59/172 complex by domain duplication resulted in extension of the repeats up to 128 nm, as well as duplication of specific axonemal components. Thus, the FAP59/172 complex is the molecular ruler that determines the 96-nm repeat length and arrangements of components in cilia and flagella.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1260214