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Polycystic kidney disease

The cilia mechanosensation debate gets (bio)physical

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Two studies have applied a mechanical stimulus directly to a cilium, independent of a chemical signal, and demonstrated that force-based bending of a single nodal axoneme is sufficient to induce intraciliary Ca2+ flux in a PKD2-dependent manner, which propagates to drive asymmetric gene expression.

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Fig. 1: Cilia as mechanosensors.

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Acknowledgements

P.M. is supported by the UKRI MRC (MC_U_12018/26) and from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 866355).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Innate Immunity, Biophysical Imaging, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Dagmar Wachten

  2. MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute for Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Pleasantine Mill

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  1. Dagmar Wachten
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  2. Pleasantine Mill
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Correspondence to Dagmar Wachten or Pleasantine Mill.

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Wachten, D., Mill, P. The cilia mechanosensation debate gets (bio)physical. Nat Rev Nephrol 19, 279–280 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-023-00701-4

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