Motile and Sensory Cilia Function in Zebrafish

Sensory functions of motile cilia and implication for bronchiectasis.

Cilia are specialized organelles that extend from the cell surface into the local environment. Cilia of the airway epithelia are motile to provide mucociliary clearance. On other cells, solitary cilia are specialized to detect chemical or mechanosensory signals. Sensory proteins in motile cilia have recently been identified that detect fluid flow, bitter taste and sex hormones. The relationship...

Cilia in the porcine bile ductule: motile or sensory?

Oligociliated epithelial cells or cells with a solitary cilium were observed lining hepatic bile ductules in pigs. The cilia were situated in the midst of microvilli, and arose from a basal body that was located in the vicinity of the free surface of the epithelium. The axonemal pattern revealed in transverse sections of the cilia was 7 + 1, 8 + 1, 8 + 2 or 9 + 0, Although devoid of the classic...

Sensory reception is an attribute of both primary cilia and motile cilia.

A recent cluster of papers has shown that motile cilia in the respiratory and reproductive tracts of humans and other mammals can exhibit sensory functions, a function previously attributed primarily to non-motile primary cilia. This leads to a new paradigm that all cilia and flagella (both motile and primary) can mediate sensory functions. However, examination of the literature shows that evid...

Structural maintenance and chemosensory function of human airway motile cilia

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SnapShot: Motile Cilia