Cellular Antennae

On the cell’s surface acting like antennae, cilia are vital for sensing the environment so the cell can respond appropriately. Faulty cilia have become increasingly linked to disease, for example in problems with glucose regulation. Changes in our blood sugar levels are received by the cilium of pancreatic islet cells prompting the release of either the hormone insulin or glucagon to re-stabilise glucose levels. So if the cilium is damaged, it’s easy to see how it could result in disease. However, until now characterisation of these tiny structures physically and how they might vary between cell types has been challenging. Here, using a combination of scanning electron microscopy and cell membrane extraction techniques researchers visualised human cilia in 3D (including their existence as multicilia pictured) for the first time. This approach can be applied to study diseases related to cilia faults in detail and furthers our understanding of cell biology.

Written by Sophie Arthur

Sophie Arthur

former Science Communications Officer MRC LMS

Formerly a stem cell biologist, Sophie has since moved into science communication working at the MRC LMS. She also writes an award winning science and education blog Soph talks science.

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• Image from work by Alexander J. Polino and colleagues
• Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), May 2023