Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026

Live Imaging of the Ependymal Cilia in the Lateral Ventricles of the Mouse Brain
Published on: June 1, 2015
Planar polarity of ependymal cilia
Norihito Kishimoto1, Kazunobu Sawamoto
1Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan.
Abstract:
Ependymal cells, epithelial cells that line the cerebral ventricles of the adult brain in various animals, extend multiple motile cilia from their apical surface into the ventricles. These cilia move rapidly, beating in a direction determined by the ependymal planar cell polarity (PCP). Ciliary dysfunction interferes with cerebrospinal fluid circulation and alters neuronal migration. In this review, we summarize recent studies on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying two distinct types of ependymal PCP. Ciliary beating in the direction of fluid flow is established by a combination of hydrodynamic forces and intracellular planar polarity signaling. The ciliary basal bodies' anterior position on the apical surface of the cell is determined in the embryonic radial glial cells, inherited by ependymal cells, and established by non-muscle myosin II in early postnatal development.
More Related Videos
07:07Evaluation of Planar-Cell-Polarity Phenotypes in Ciliopathy Mouse Mutant Cochlea
Published on: February 21, 2016
12:15The C. elegans Intestine As a Model for Intercellular Lumen Morphogenesis and In Vivo Polarized Membrane Biogenesis at the Single-cell Level: Labeling by Antibody Staining, RNAi Loss-of-function Analysis and Imaging
Published on: October 3, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Polarity of the Cytoskeleton
Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins
Microtubules in Signaling
Mechanism of Ciliary Motion
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...
Determining the Plane of Cell Division
Animal cells
In animal cells, the cleavage furrow forms along the plane of cell division starting...
Microtubules in Cell Motility