Speaker: Dr. Rui Zhang, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiophysicsWashington University in St. Louis

Time: 10:00-11:00 a.m., June 28, 2023, GMT+8

Venue: Tecent Meeting ID: 129-183-662

Abstract:

Cilia are hair-like organelles protrude from the surface of most eukaryoticcells and are responsible for cellular motility, fluid flow and sensoryperception. The axoneme of most motile cilia consists of nine doubletmicrotubules (DMT) arranged in a circle around a central pair of singlet MTsgenerating a 9+2 arrangement. A large T-shaped protein complex namedradial spoke connects the doublet MTs to the central apparatus. In our recentwork, we used single-particle cryo-EM to visualize and build atomic models ofthe repeating structures of several native axonemal complexes (DMT radiaspoke and central apparatus), which reveals the identities, positions, repeatlengths, and interactions of more than 120 associated proteins includingmicrotubule inner proteins (MIPs). These structures demonstrate how theseproteins establish the unique architecture of DMTs and maintain coherentperiodicities along the axoneme. Our work provides a molecular atlas forinterpreting genetic, biochemical, and physiological data from different celtypes and for understanding the etiology of human ciliopathies.

Source: School of Life Sciences