Abstract
Intraflagellar transport (IFT) of ciliary precursors such as tubulin from the cytoplasm to the ciliary tip is involved in the construction of the cilium, a hairlike organelle found on most eukaryotic cells. However, the molecular mechanisms of IFT are poorly understood. Here, we found that the two core IFT proteins IFT74 and IFT81 form a tubulin-binding module and mapped the interaction to a calponin homology domain of IFT81 and a highly basic domain in IFT74. Knockdown of IFT81 and rescue experiments with point mutants showed that tubulin binding by IFT81 was required for ciliogenesis in human cells.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Cell Line, Tumor
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Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / genetics
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Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / metabolism
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Cilia / genetics
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Cilia / physiology*
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Crystallography, X-Ray
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / chemistry
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / genetics
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / metabolism*
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Gene Knockdown Techniques
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Humans
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Muscle Proteins / chemistry
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Muscle Proteins / genetics
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Muscle Proteins / metabolism*
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Plant Proteins / chemistry
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Plant Proteins / genetics
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Plant Proteins / metabolism
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Point Mutation
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Protein Structure, Tertiary
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Protein Transport
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RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
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Tubulin / metabolism*
Substances
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Cytoskeletal Proteins
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IFT74 protein, human
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IFT81 protein, human
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Muscle Proteins
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Plant Proteins
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RNA, Small Interfering
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Tubulin