Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Observation of the Ciliary Movement of Choroid Plexus Epithelial Cells Ex Vivo
08:00

Observation of the Ciliary Movement of Choroid Plexus Epithelial Cells Ex Vivo

Published on: July 13, 2015

12.2K

Cytoglobin regulates NO-dependent cilia motility and organ laterality during development

Elizabeth R Rochon1, Jianmin Xue2, Manush Sayd Mohammed3

  • 1Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.

Nature Communications
|December 14, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Cytoglobin is essential for proper cilia function and organ development. This heme protein regulates a nitric oxide signaling pathway crucial for left-right patterning in zebrafish and airway cilia in mice.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Cytoglobin (CYGB) is a heme protein with an unclear physiological role.
  • Human conditions linked to ciliary dysfunction and low nitric oxide (NO) production involve left-right cardiac determination defects.
  • Zebrafish cytoglobin (cygb2) genetic deletion results in cardiac developmental abnormalities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the physiological function of cytoglobin, specifically its role in cilia function and organ laterality.
  • To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying cytoglobin's function in relation to nitric oxide signaling.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized zebrafish (cygb2) mutants and cytoglobin knockout mice models.
  • Investigated co-localization of Cygb2 with cilia and nitric oxide synthase (Nos2b).
  • Assessed cilia structure and function, organ laterality, and nitric oxide levels.

Main Results:

  • Cygb2 was found to co-localize with cilia and Nos2b in zebrafish Kupffer's vesicle, with disrupted cilia structure and function in cygb2 mutants.
  • Depletion of Nos2b or guanylate cyclase (gucy1a) phenocopied the ciliary and laterality defects.
  • Defects were rescued by NO donors, guanylate cyclase stimulators, or Nos2b overexpression in zebrafish.
  • Cytoglobin knockout mice exhibited impaired airway cilia structure and reduced NO levels.

Conclusions:

  • Cytoglobin acts as a positive regulator of the nitric oxide synthase-soluble guanylate cyclase-cyclic GMP signaling pathway.
  • This pathway is critical for normal cilia motility and left-right patterning.
  • Cytoglobin's role in NO signaling is conserved across species, impacting both embryonic development and airway function.

More Related Videos

Evaluation of Planar-Cell-Polarity Phenotypes in Ciliopathy Mouse Mutant Cochlea07:07

Evaluation of Planar-Cell-Polarity Phenotypes in Ciliopathy Mouse Mutant Cochlea

Published on: February 21, 2016

10.5K
Using Primary Neurosphere Cultures to Study Primary Cilia08:14

Using Primary Neurosphere Cultures to Study Primary Cilia

Published on: April 14, 2017

9.4K

Related Concept Videos

Mechanism of Ciliary Motion01:05

Mechanism of Ciliary Motion

The ciliary structures were first seen in 1647 by Antonie Leeuwenhoek while observing the protozoans. In lower organisms, these appendages are responsible for cell movement, while in higher organisms, these appendages help in the movement of the extracellular fluids within the body cavities.
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...
3.7K
Microtubules in Signaling01:22

Microtubules in Signaling

The primary cilium, made up of microtubules, acts as antennae on the cell surfaces for relaying external stimuli into the cells. These fine hair-like structures are present, generally one per cell. These are non-motile cilia in a 9+0 microtubules arrangement, where the central pair of microtubules are absent. The primary cilia arise from the basal body embedded in the cell membrane. Intraflagellar transport (IFT) carries requisite proteins from the cytoplasm to the cilium because the primary...
1.7K
Microtubules in Cell Motility01:24

Microtubules in Cell Motility

Microtubules are thick hollow cylindrical proteins that help form the cytoskeleton. Microtubules have varied roles in the cell. These filaments help form cellular appendages like cilia and flagella, which are responsible for locomotion. The cilia arise from basal bodies, separated from the main body by a membrane-like structure forming the transition zone. This zone is the gate for the entry of lipids and proteins, creating a unique composition of lipids and proteins in the ciliary membrane and...
3.3K
Cytoskeletal Coordination in Cell Migration01:32

Cytoskeletal Coordination in Cell Migration

A migrating cell changes its shape during the cyclic events of attachment and detachment from the substratum and repositions the cell organelles correspondingly. These complex events are orchestrated by the dynamic cytoskeletal network comprising actin filaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules. Cytoskeletal crosstalk — the direct and indirect communication between the different components — is crucial for this coordination. Direct communication involves various linker...
4.8K
Role of Myosin in Cell Migration01:18

Role of Myosin in Cell Migration

Myosins are multimeric motor proteins involved in various cellular processes such as migration, adhesion, and proliferation. Myosin II is the most common type in animal cells, which binds and cross-links actin filaments.
Myosin II  is a hexamer comprising two heavy chains with globular heads and coiled-coil tails, two regulatory light chains, and two essential light chains. The ATPase sites on the myosin heads hydrolyze ATP, and the released phosphate generates the force for contraction....
2.3K
Polarity of the Cytoskeleton01:18

Polarity of the Cytoskeleton

The intrinsic polarity of cells can be primarily attributed to two factors- i) the asymmetric accumulation of mobile components such are regulatory molecules and subcellular components across the cell and ii) the orientation of polar cytoskeletal filaments that make up the cytoskeletal networks, specifically microfilaments, and microtubules arranged along the axis of polarity. Interactions between the cytoskeletal filaments are crucial for the establishment and maintenance of the polar nature...
18.2K