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A cilium (plural cilia) is an organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell. Cilia are extensions of the plasma membrane containing doublets of parallel microtubules. They are approximately 5 to 10 micrometres in length. There are two types of cilia: (1) motile cilium, which constantly beats in one direction, and (2) non-motile cilium, which cannot beat and usually serves as a sensor.
Types and distribution
Cilia are found in all animals, although nematodes and arthropods only have non-motile cilia on some sensory nerve cells. Cilia are rare in plants, occurring most notably in cycads. Protozoans (ciliates) possess motile cilia exclusively and use them for either locomotion or to simply move liquid over their surface. Some ciliates bear groups of cilia that are fused together into large mobile projections called cirri (singular, cirrus). Most other organisms that have motile cilia use them only to move liquid over their cells' surfaces.
Motile cilia are rarely found alone, usually present on a cell's surface in large numbers and beating in coordinated waves. In humans, for example, motile cilia are found in the lining of the trachea (windpipe), where they sweep mucus and dirt out of the lungs. In the oviducts, the beating of cilia moves the ovum from the ovary to the uterus.
In contrast to the motile cilia, non-motile cilia usually occur one per cell. The outer segment of the rod photoreceptor cell in the human eye is connected to its cell body with a specialized non-motile cilium. The terminal fiber of the olfactory neuron, where the odorant receptors are located, is also a non-motile cilium. Aside from these specialized examples, almost all mammalian cells have a single non-motile "primary cilium." Though the primary cilium has historically been ignored by scientists, recent findings regarding its physiological roles in chemical sensation, signal transduction, and control of cell growth, have led scientists to re-evaluate its importance.
Structure
Cilia are structurally identical to eukaryotic flagella, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. In general, though, the term cilia is used when they are numerous, short and coordinated while flagella is used when they are relatively sparse and long. The name cilium may also be used to emphasize their differences from bacterial flagella.
A cilium has an outer membrane that surrounds a core called an axoneme, which contains nine pairs of microtubule doublets and other associated proteins. Motile cilia have a central core with two additional microtubule singlets and dynein motor proteins that are attached to the outer microtubule doublets. Biologists refer to this organization as a canonical "9 + 2" structure. The non-motile cilia do not have the two central microtubule singlets and do not have dyneins. This configuration of axoneme is referred as a "9 + 0" type. At the base of the cilium is its microtubule organising center (MTOC) called a basal body. Basal body is made from the centriole, which migrates to the cell surface to act as the basal body in animal cells. The region between the basal body and axoneme is a short transition zone which is less studied.
Assembly and maintenance
To grow a cilium, the building blocks of the cilia such as tubulins and other partially assembled axonemal proteins are added from the ciliary tips which point away from the cell body. A bi-directional motility called intraciliary/intraflagellar transport or IFT plays an essential role to move these building materials from the cell body to the assembly site. IFT also carries the disassembled material to be recycled from the ciliary tip back to the cell body. By regulating the equilibrium between these two IFT processes, the length of cilia can be maintained dynamically .
Cilium-related disease
A defect in the cilium can cause human disease. The best known cilia-related disorder is primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). In addition, a defect of the primary cilium in the renal tube cells can lead to polycystic kidney disease (PKD). In another genetic disorder called Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), the mutant gene products are the components in the basal body and cilia.
References
Organelles | Cell biology | Locomotion
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"Cilium"