Berbari Nicolas F, Bishop Georgia A, Askwith Candice C, Lewis Jacqueline S, Mykytyn Kirk
Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
J Neurosci Res. 2007 Apr;85(5):1095-100. doi: 10.1002/jnr.21209.
Primary cilia are cellular appendages that provide important sensory functions and defects in primary ciliary signaling have been implicated in the pathophysiology of human diseases and developmental abnormalities. Almost all human cell types possess a primary cilium. Neurons throughout the brain possess primary cilia on which certain receptors localize, suggesting that neurons possess cilia-mediated signaling. However, the functional significance of neuronal cilia is unknown. Although there is a great deal of interest in understanding the functions of neuronal cilia, their study is hampered by the lack of an in vitro model system. We report that the majority of hippocampal neurons cultured from postnatal mice possess primary cilia in vitro. Further, we describe cilia proteins that can be labeled to readily visualize neuronal primary cilia in culture. These findings are the first characterization of neuronal primary cilia in vitro and should greatly facilitate further investigations into the function of these organelles.
初级纤毛是细胞附属结构，具有重要的感觉功能，初级纤毛信号传导缺陷与人类疾病的病理生理学和发育异常有关。几乎所有人类细胞类型都拥有初级纤毛。大脑中的神经元都有初级纤毛，某些受体定位于其上，这表明神经元具有纤毛介导的信号传导。然而，神经元纤毛的功能意义尚不清楚。尽管人们对了解神经元纤毛的功能非常感兴趣，但由于缺乏体外模型系统，其研究受到了阻碍。我们报告称，从新生小鼠培养的大多数海马神经元在体外都拥有初级纤毛。此外，我们描述了可以标记的纤毛蛋白，以便在培养中轻松观察到神经元初级纤毛。这些发现是对体外神经元初级纤毛的首次表征，应该会极大地促进对这些细胞器功能的进一步研究。
