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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Single-Molecule Imaging of Nuclear Transport
Published on: June 9, 2010
Single-Molecule Turnarounds of Intraflagellar Transport at the C. elegans Ciliary Tip
Jona Mijalkovic1, Jaap van Krugten1, Felix Oswald1
1LaserLaB and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Abstract:
Cilia are microtubule-based sensing hubs that rely on intraflagellar transport (IFT) for their development, maintenance, and function. Kinesin-2 motors transport IFT trains, consisting of IFT proteins and cargo, from ciliary base to tip. There, trains turn around and are transported back by IFT dynein. The mechanism of tip turnaround has remained elusive. Here, we employ single-molecule fluorescence microscopy of IFT components in the tips of phasmid cilia of living C. elegans. Analysis of the trajectories reveals that while motor proteins and IFT-A particle component CHE-11 mostly turn around immediately, the IFT-B particle component OSM-6 pauses for several seconds. Our data indicate that IFT trains disassemble into at least IFT-A, IFT-B, IFT-dynein, and OSM-3 complexes at the tip, where OSM-6 is temporarily retained or undergoes modification, prior to train reassembly and retrograde transport. The single-molecule approach used here is a valuable tool to study how directional switches occur in microtubule-based transport processes.
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