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PMID: 19805630 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Intraflagellar transport particle size scales inversely with flagellar length: revisiting the balance-point length control model.

The Journal of cell biology ·Vol. 187 ·No. 1 ·2009-10-05 ·Pages 81-9

Engel BD, Ludington WB, Marshall WF

Abstract

The assembly and maintenance of eukaryotic flagella are regulated by intraflagellar transport (IFT), the bidirectional traffic of IFT particles (recently renamed IFT trains) within the flagellum. We previously proposed the balance-point length control model, which predicted that the frequency of train transport should decrease as a function of flagellar length, thus modulating the length-dependent flagellar assembly rate. However, this model was challenged by the differential interference contrast microscopy observation that IFT frequency is length independent. Using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to quantify protein traffic during the regeneration of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagella, we determined that anterograde IFT trains in short flagella are composed of more kinesin-associated protein and IFT27 proteins than trains in long flagella. This length-dependent remodeling of train size is consistent with the kinetics of flagellar regeneration and supports a revised balance-point model of flagellar length control in which the size of anterograde IFT trains tunes the rate of flagellar assembly.

MeSH Terms
Animals Carrier Proteins/genetics,metabolism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii/genetics,metabolism Flagella/genetics,metabolism Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Kinesins/genetics,metabolism Kinetics Kymography Microscopy, Video Models, Biological Particle Size Protein Binding/genetics Protein Subunits Protein Transport/genetics Protozoan Proteins/genetics,metabolism rab GTP-Binding Proteins/genetics,metabolism
Chemicals
Carrier Proteins Protein Subunits Protozoan Proteins Green Fluorescent Proteins Kinesins rab GTP-Binding Proteins
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Engel Benjamin D
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
Ludington William B
Marshall Wallace F
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of cell biology
Abbr.
J Cell Biol
ISSN
1540-8140
DOI
10.1083/jcb.200812084
Published
2009-10-05
Pages
81-9
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0375356
PMCID
PMC2762100
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1083/jcb.200812084 PMC Full Text View journal details
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