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The primary cilium – once a “rudimentary” organelle that is now a ubiquitous sensory cellular structure involved in many pathological disorders

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Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling Aims and scope

Abstract

This article looks mostly at the steps that have led to the primary cilium finding its place in our understanding of cell biology, developmental biology, and medical syndromes due to its aberrations. It is a personal account that stresses, if nothing else, the value of the adage “stick to your guns”. My obsession with this organelle, following on from fascination with the centriole, has led to a whole career devoted to determining the nature and role of primary cilia in basic cell biology, which has proved much more important than had been appreciated for almost a century. They are heavily involved in very many aspects of cell physiology that have much wider implications with regard to human biology and probably throughout the animal kingdom. That aberrations, to the surprise of many researchers in their structure or functioning has led to their being implicated or perhaps deeply involved in an extraordinary range of medical conditions. This invitation allows me to raise crucial questions that need answers regarding the regulation of their genesis, their cache of both intracellular and extracellular signal, and their association with a multitude of development processes from embryo to adult status.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks in particular to Bernard Perbal for inviting me to contribute, albeit rather tardily, to this anniversary issue of JCCS. It would not have been possible without the help from a band of devoted researchers I have had the privilege to work with for over more than 50 years. To name them all would be difficult, as it might be iniquitous to mention only a few. However, there were two points at which my research on primary cilia was bolstered during those times when as the French say “we were talking to the wind”. One was Tony Poole, who was perhaps the strongest advocate of the primary cilium, recognizing its importance from the start of his work on it, which has been thoroughly vindicated in the interim. The other most certainly was years of working with Sam Bowser in keeping the subject alive in the 1980s. Many facets of the basic biology of primary cilia were unfolded by our combined effort. Finally I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who has jumped on board in the last two decades; their combined effort has made unexpectedly huge waves in science and medicine. I must also apologise for using only representative references to recent reports on primary cilia to make some of my points. This article is not intended as a review, but rather a personal perspective of this remarkable organelle.

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  1. BioMedES, Leggat, Keithall, Inverurie, AB51 0LX, Aberdeenshire, UK

    Denys N. Wheatley

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Correspondence to Denys N. Wheatley.

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Wheatley, D.N. The primary cilium – once a “rudimentary” organelle that is now a ubiquitous sensory cellular structure involved in many pathological disorders. J. Cell Commun. Signal. 12, 211–216 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12079-017-0436-0

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