Cilia play essential roles in normal human development and health; cilia dysfunction results in diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Despite their importance, the native structure of human cilia is unknown, and structural defects in the cilia of patients are often undetectable or remain elusive because of heterogeneity. Here, we develop an approach that enables visualization of human (patient) cilia at high-resolution using cryo-electron tomography of samples obtained non-invasively by nasal-scrape biopsy. We present the native 3D structures of normal and PCD-causing RSPH1-mutant human respiratory cilia in unprecedented detail; this allows comparisons of cilia structure across evolutionarily distant species and reveals the previously unknown primary defect and the heterogeneous secondary defects in RSPH1-mutant cilia. Our data provide evidence for structural and functional heterogeneity in radial spokes, suggest a mechanism for the milder RSPH1-PCD-phenotype, and demonstrate that cryo-electron tomography can be applied to human disease by directly imaging patient samples.

The directional flow generated by motile cilia and flagella is critical for many processes, including human development and organ function. Normal beating requires the control and coordination of thousands of dynein motors, and the nexin-dynein regulatory complex (N-DRC) has been identified as an important regulatory node for orchestrating dynein activity. The nexin link appears to be critical for the transformation of dynein-driven, linear microtubule sliding to flagellar bending, yet the molecular composition and mechanism of the N-DRC remain largely unknown. Here, we used proteomics with special attention to protein phosphorylation to analyze the composition of the N-DRC and to determine which subunits may be important for signal transduction. Two-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of WT and mutant flagellar axonemes from Chlamydomonas identified 12 N-DRC-associated proteins, including all seven previously observed N-DRC components. Sequence and PCR analyses identified the mutation responsible for the phenotype of the sup-pf-4 strain, and biochemical comparison with a radial spoke mutant revealed two components that may link the N-DRC and the radial spokes. Phosphoproteomics revealed eight proteins with phosphorylated isoforms for which the isoform patterns changed with the genotype as well as two components that may play pivotal roles in N-DRC function through their phosphorylation status. These data were assembled into a model of the N-DRC that explains aspects of its regulatory function.

Highlights d A comprehensive model is presented of the yeast nuclear pore complex (NPC) d Connectors link together different structural and functional layers in the NPC d Multiple structural and functional NPC isoforms co-exist in each cell d Modular construction allows structural plasticity and inner ring dilation of the NPC

Radial spokes are ubiquitous components of motile cilia and flagella and play an essential role in transmitting signals that regulate the activity of the dynein motors, and thus ciliary and flagellar motility. In some organisms the 96 nm axonemal repeat unit contains only a pair of two spokes, RS1 and RS2, while most organisms have spoke triplets with an additional spoke RS3. The spoke pair in Chlamydomonas flagella has been well characterized, while spoke triplets have received less attention. Here, we used cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to visualize the 3D structure of spoke triplets in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (sea urchin) sperm flagella in unprecedented detail. Only small differences were observed between RS1 and RS2, but the structure of RS3 was surprisingly unique and structurally different from the other two spokes. We observed novel doublet specific features that connect RS2, RS3 and the nexin-dynein regulatory complex, three key ciliary and flagellar structures. The distribution of these doublet specific structures suggests that they could be important for establishing the asymmetry of dynein activity required for the oscillatory movement of cilia and flagella. Surprisingly, a comparison with other organisms demonstrated both that this considerable radial spoke heterogeneity is conserved and that organisms with radial spoke pairs contain the basal part of RS3. This conserved radial spoke heterogeneity may also reflect functional differences between the spokes and their involvement in regulating ciliary and flagellar motility.

The MIA complex, composed of FAP100 and FAP73, interacts with I1 dynein components and is required for normal ciliary beat frequency.

Motile cilia have nine doublet microtubules, with hundreds of associated proteins that repeat in modules. Each module contains three radial spokes, which differ in their architecture, protein composition, and function. The conserved proteins FAP61 and FAP251 are crucial for the assembly and stable docking of RS3 and cilia motility.

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