The C. elegans Tubby homolog dynamically modulates olfactory cilia membrane morphogenesis and phospholipid composition
- Brandeis University, United States
Abstract
Plasticity in sensory signaling is partly mediated via regulated trafficking of signaling molecules to and from primary cilia. Tubby-related proteins regulate ciliary protein transport; however, their roles in remodeling cilia properties are not fully understood. We find that the C. elegans TUB-1 Tubby homolog regulates membrane morphogenesis and signaling protein transport in specialized sensory cilia. In particular, TUB-1 is essential for sensory signaling-dependent reshaping of olfactory cilia morphology. We show that compromised sensory signaling alters cilia membrane phosphoinositide composition via TUB-1-dependent trafficking of a PIP5 kinase. TUB-1 regulates localization of this lipid kinase at the cilia base in part via localization of the AP-2 adaptor complex subunit DPY-23. Our results describe new functions for Tubby proteins in the dynamic regulation of cilia membrane lipid composition, morphology, and signaling protein content, and suggest that this conserved family of proteins plays a critical role in mediating cilia structural and functional plasticity.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
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Author details
Funding
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R35 GM122463)
- Piali Sengupta
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (T32 NS007292)
- Alison Philbrook
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32 GM007122)
- Danielle DiTirro
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2019, DiTirro et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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The C. elegans Tubby homolog dynamically modulates olfactory cilia membrane morphogenesis and phospholipid composition
eLife 8:e48789.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.48789
