0000000000751599
AUTHOR
Christopher J. Westlake
showing 2 related works from this author
A ciliopathy complex builds distal appendages to initiate ciliogenesis
2021
ABSTRACTCells inherit two centrioles, the older of which is uniquely capable of generating a cilium. Using proteomics and super-resolved imaging, we identified a module which we term DISCO (DIStal centriole COmplex). DISCO components CEP90, MNR and OFD1 underlie human ciliopathies. This complex localized to both distal centrioles and centriolar satellites, proteinaceous granules surrounding centrioles. Cells and mice lacking CEP90 or MNR did not generate cilia, failed to assemble distal appendages, and did not transduce Hedgehog signals. Disrupting the satellite pools did not affect distal appendage assembly, indicating that it is the centriolar populations of MNR and CEP90 that are critica…
Primary Cilium-Mediated Retinal Pigment Epithelium Maturation Is Disrupted in Ciliopathy Patient Cells
2018
SUMMARY Primary cilia are sensory organelles that protrude from the cell membrane. Defects in the primary cilium cause ciliopathy disorders, with retinal degeneration as a prominent phenotype. Here, we demonstrate that the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), essential for photoreceptor development and function, requires a functional primary cilium for complete maturation and that RPE maturation defects in ciliopathies precede photoreceptor degeneration. Pharmacologically enhanced ciliogenesis in wild-type induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-RPE leads to fully mature and functional cells. In contrast, ciliopathy patient-derived iPSC-RPE and iPSC-RPE with a knockdown of ciliary-trafficking pr…