BIO - English > Research > Cell and Develop. Biology > Cilia Group

Cilia Group 

Cilia are slender, hair-like organelles that project from the surface of most growth-arrested cells in our body. They consist of a microtubule-based axoneme surrounded by a bilayer lipid membrane that is enriched in specific receptor proteins and ion channels. Some types of cilia are motile and present in many copies per cell (e.g. cilia on epithelial cells lining the airways and oviduct) while others are non-motile and present in only one copy per cell. These cilia are also called primary cilia. Whether motile or not, all types of cilia have important sensory functions. Consequently, defects in the assembly or function of cilia can lead to severe diseases and developmental defects, including cystic kidney disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Research in our group is focused on the following aspects of cilia assembly and function:

• Role of primary cilia in growth control and migration
• Sensory function of motile and primary cilia in oviduct, ovary and pancreas 
• Role of primary cilia in development and stem cell maintenance and differentiation
• Ciliary coordination of PDGFRa, Hedgehog, Wnt and steriod signaling
• Molecular mechanisms of intraflagellar transport
• Role of microtubule plus end-tracking proteins in ciliogenesis

Selected publications

Kiprilov EN, Awan A, Desprat R, Velho M, Clement CA, Byskov AG, Andersen CY, Satir P, Bouhassira EE, Christensen ST, Hirsch RE. 2008. Human embryonic stem cells in culture possess primary cilia with hedgehog signaling machinery. J Cell Biol. 180:897-904.

Christensen, ST, Ott, CM. 2007. A ciliary signaling switch. Science, 317:330-331.

Schrøder, JM, Schneider, L, Christensen, ST, Pedersen, LB. 2007. EB1 is required for primary cilia assembly in fibroblasts. Curr Biol. 17:1134-1139. 

Pedersen LB, Rompolas P, Christensen ST, Rosenbaum JL, King SM. 2007. The lissencephaly protein Lis1 is present in motile mammalian cilia and requires outer arm dynein for targeting to Chlamydomonas flagella. J Cell Sci. 120:858-67.

Christensen ST, Pedersen LB, Schneider L, Satir P. 2007. Sensory cilia and integration of signal transduction in human health and disease. Traffic 8:97-109.

Satir P, Christensen ST. 2007. Overview of structure and function of mammalian cilia. Annu Rev Physiol. 69:377-400.

Pedersen LB, Geimer S, Rosenbaum JL. 2006. Dissecting the molecular mechanisms of intraflagellar transport in Chlamydomonas. Curr Biol. 16:450-459.

Schneider L, Clement CA, Teilmann SC, Pazour GJ, Hoffmann EK, Satir P, Christensen ST. 2005. PDGFRalphaalpha signaling is regulated through the primary cilium in fibroblasts. Curr Biol. 15:1861-1866.

Pedersen LB, Miller MS, Geimer S, Leitch JM, Rosenbaum JL, Cole DG. 2005. Chlamydomonas IFT172 is encoded by FLA11, interacts with CrEB1, and regulates IFT at the flagellar tip. Curr Biol. 15:262-266.

Pedersen LB, Geimer S, Sloboda RD, Rosenbaum JL. 2003. The Microtubule plus end-tracking protein EB1 is localized to the flagellar tip and basal bodies in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Biol. 13:1969-1974.