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Updated: Sep 5, 2025

Evaluation of Planar-Cell-Polarity Phenotypes in Ciliopathy Mouse Mutant Cochlea
Published on: February 21, 2016
Ciliary transition zone proteins coordinate ciliary protein composition and ectosome shedding
Liang Wang1, Xin Wen2, Zhengmao Wang3,4
1School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, 221116, Xuzhou, China. wangliang@jsnu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The transition zone (TZ) of the cilium/flagellum serves as a diffusion barrier that controls the entry/exit of ciliary proteins. Mutations of the TZ proteins disrupt barrier function and lead to multiple human diseases. However, the systematic regulation of ciliary composition and signaling-related processes by different TZ proteins is not completely understood. Here, we reveal that loss of TCTN1 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii disrupts the assembly of wedge-shaped structures in the TZ. Proteomic analysis of cilia from WT and three TZ mutants, tctn1, cep290, and nphp4, shows a unique role of each TZ subunit in the regulation of ciliary composition, explaining the phenotypic diversity of different TZ mutants. Interestingly, we find that defects in the TZ impair the formation and biological activity of ciliary ectosomes. Collectively, our findings provide systematic insights into the regulation of ciliary composition by TZ proteins and reveal a link between the TZ and ciliary ectosomes.
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