TGF-β Signaling Regulates the Differentiation of Motile Cilia
Open accessAbstract
The cilium is a small cellular organelle with motility- and/or sensory-related functions that plays a crucial role during developmental and homeostatic processes. Although many molecules or signal transduction pathways that control cilia assembly have been reported, the mechanisms of ciliary length control have remained enigmatic. Here, we report that Smad2-dependent transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling impacts the length of motile cilia at the Xenopus left-right (LR) organizer, the gastrocoel roof plate (GRP), as well as at the neural tube and the epidermis. Blocking TGF-β signaling resulted in the absence of the transition zone protein B9D1/MSKR-1 from cilia in multi-ciliated cells (MCCs) of the epidermis. Interestingly, this TGF-β activity is not mediated by Mcidas, Foxj1, and RFX2, the known major regulators of ciliogenesis. These data indicate that TGF-β signaling is crucial for the function of the transition zone, which in turn may affect the regulation of cilia length.
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Emerging evidence from mouse models and post-mortem human brains indicates changes in the morphology of primary cilia, with differences in ciliary length and abundance.
“Emerging evidence from both mouse models and post-mortem analyses of human brains indicates changes in the morphology of PC, with several studies reporting differences in ciliary length and abundance [54,55].”
From The Impact of Neurotoxin Proteins Trafficked by Primary Cilia and Extracellular Vesicles in Neurodegenerative Diseases (2025) · cites this paper as [55]
The Results and Discussion (pages unavailable) report shortened motile cilia in Xenopus embryos after TGF-β signaling was blocked, supporting only the general point that ciliary length can change. The paper does not report changes in primary-cilium length or abundance in mouse models or post-mortem human brains; its Results say the non-motile monocilia examined seemed unaffected. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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“Emerging evidence from both mouse models and post-mortem analyses of human brains indicates changes in the morphology of PC, with several studies reporting differences in ciliary length and abundance [54,55].”
- Authors
- Tözser, J., Earwood, R., Kato, A., Brown, J., Tanaka, K., Didier, R., Megraw, T. L., Blum, M., & Kato, Y.
- Affiliations
- University of Hohenheim (DE)
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Blum, Martin
- Kato, Yoichi
- Venue
- Cell Reports
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-05
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1000-1007
- ISSN
- 2211-1247 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4439334
- OpenAlex
- W1565308349
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 2.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM087641, R15GM087641)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and Kidney Cyst Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Cystic Fibrosis Research Advances
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › TGF-β signaling in diseases
- Keywords
- TGF-beta signaling, motile cilia, Smad2, ciliogenesis, transition zone, left-right organizer, neural tube, epidermis, Xenopus
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cilia, Immunohistochemistry, Xenopus, Signal Transduction, Transforming Growth Factor beta, Microscopy, Confocal, Smad2 Protein
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