Structure-guided discovery of protein and glycan components in native mastigonemes

Huang, Junhao; Tao, Hui; Chen, Jikun; Shen, Yang; Lei, Jianlin; Pan, Junmin; Yan, Chuangye; Yan, Nieng

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.037

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Even there, there are likely to be aspects of the system for which the awesome power of Chlamydomonas genetics and biochemistry can be brought to bear. For example, while Chlamydomonas doesn’t have a kidney, it has an ortholog of PKD2 ( Huang et al, 2007 ) and recently it has been shown that the mastigoneme protein that forms filaments on the outside of the Chlamydomonas flagellum ( Witman et al, 1972 ), is a structural homolog of PKD1 ( Huang et al, 2024 ), and interacts with PKD2 ( Das et al, 2024 ), suggesting that Chlamydomonas really does have something equivalent to the PKD1/2 system in mammalian kidneys. In fact, a startlingly large number of genes involved in human ciliopathies have orthologs in Chlamydomonas , consistent with the high conservation of ciliary proteins.…”

Section: Discussion: Chlamydomonas —Why Use Anythi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chlamydomonas as a model system to study cilia and flagella using genetics, biochemistry, and microscopy

Marshall

2024

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

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The unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, has played a central role in discovering much of what is currently known about the composition, assembly, and function of cilia and flagella. Chlamydomonas combines excellent genetics, such as the ability to grow cells as haploids or diploids and to perform tetrad analysis, with an unparalleled ability to detach and isolate flagella in a single step without cell lysis. The combination of genetics and biochemistry that is possible in Chlamydomonas has allowed many of the key components of the cilium to be identified by looking for proteins that are missing in a defined mutant. Few if any other model organisms allow such a seamless combination of genetic and biochemical approaches. Other major advantages of Chlamydomonas compared to other systems include the ability to induce flagella to regenerate in a highly synchronous manner, allowing the kinetics of flagellar growth to be measured, and the ability of Chlamydomonas flagella to adhere to glass coverslips allowing Intraflagellar Transport to be easily imaged inside the flagella of living cells, with quantitative precision and single-molecule resolution. These advantages continue to work in favor of Chlamydomonas as a model system going forward, and are now augmented by extensive genomic resources, a knockout strain collection, and efficient CRISPR gene editing. While Chlamydomonas has obvious limitations for studying ciliary functions related to animal development or organ physiology, when it comes to studying the fundamental biology of cilia and flagella, Chlamydomonas is simply unmatched in terms of speed, efficiency, cost, and the variety of approaches that can be brought to bear on a question.

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Section: Discussion: Chlamydomonas —Why Use Anythi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chlamydomonas as a model system to study cilia and flagella using genetics, biochemistry, and microscopy

Marshall

2024

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

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“…The flagella of archaea and bacteria are themselves passive hairs and are driven by protein motors at the base. Hair-like ultrastructures, or mastigonemes, on eukaryotic flagella/cilia comprise helical glycoproteins (≈10–20 nm thick) and lack a membrane [ 106 ]. They can be either stiff or flexible.…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional fibrillar interfaces: Biological hair as inspiration across scales

Amador,

van Oorschot,

Liao

et al. 2024

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.

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Hair, or hair-like fibrillar structures, are ubiquitous in biology, from fur on the bodies of mammals, over trichomes of plants, to the mastigonemes on the flagella of single-celled organisms. While these long and slender protuberances are passive, they are multifunctional and help to mediate interactions with the environment. They provide thermal insulation, sensory information, reversible adhesion, and surface modulation (e.g., superhydrophobicity). This review will present various functions that biological hairs have been discovered to carry out, with the hairs spanning across six orders of magnitude in size, from the millimeter-thick fur of mammals down to the nanometer-thick fibrillar ultrastructures on bateriophages. The hairs are categorized according to their functions, including protection (e.g., thermal regulation and defense), locomotion, feeding, and sensing. By understanding the versatile functions of biological hairs, bio-inspired solutions may be developed across length scales.

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