WIREs Developmental Biology . . . Studying the link between cilia and signaling pathways helps to understand nervous system development.

Studying the connections between cilia and signaling pathways can help us understand the development of the nervous system.our lives are all derived from a single cell.this cell has the potential to divide and differentiate, which creates our unique diversity and complexity.our growing brain is an example of this cellular complexity: precursor cells eventually differentiate into nerve cells.as neural precursors mature, they acquire a specific identity, move to a new location, and eventually expand projections to other cells, forming circuits in different brain regions.in order for this complex change to work, neural precursor cells need to communicate effectively.these cells rely on organelles called "primary cilia"; these organelles are slender microtubule projections that protrude from the cell surface and contain most of the molecular mechanisms required for cell communication.cilia are part of the cell, but also separate.this partition provides a strictly controlled and specialized environment.Eduardo gigante and Tamara caspery, professors at Emory University School of medicine in Atlanta, recently published a study in wires developmental biology, which suggested that studying the relationship between cilia and signal pathways could help us understand the development of nervous system.components of such signal pathways can enter and exit the primary cilia dynamically.part of the function of cilia in mediating cell communication is that it can select the components that can enter and exit, and maintain the exclusiveness necessary for normal function."we often refer to cilia as antennas on the surface of a cell, which promotes the cell's interaction with the surrounding environment," gigante explained. "Of course, it just looks like an antenna, but the cilia can't detect anything that doesn't interact with its receptors.there is no range limit, just like an antenna, it receives the signal and amplifies it quickly to produce a large response within the cell range."gigante and caspary pointed out that the reason cilia can amplify local signals is because of its small and unique compartment.cilia cannot respond to all signals.because this is an exclusive environment, only certain receptors can enter the compartment and use it to amplify signals.this is the key to development: with cilia, neural precursors can respond to important signals and ignore unimportant signals.as a result, each cell reacts differently and eventually forms the complexity of the brain.in humans, mutations in the genes encoding proteins in the cilia can lead to a class of diseases called "fibrosis.".patients with fiber disorders show a series of symptoms. Due to brain development retardation before birth, they will show mental retardation.these diseases still occur, so scientists are trying to better understand the role of primary cilia in controlling these signaling pathways."it's not easy to understand how cilia regulate development," says gigante. "It's important to remember that this organelle is so small that some say it's only one tenth of the size of the rest of the cell! Scientists are developing new technologies so that we can better visualize the cilia or measure signals in the cilia.this will take time, but understanding how cilia work is crucial for the development of future therapies. An important new forum to promote cross disciplinary discussion, published in association with the society for developmental biology an authoritative, encyclopedic resource addressing key topics from the perspectives of cell and molecular biology, stem cell biology, Plant biology, evolutionary biology, anatom, physiology, and neuroscience content is fully citable, qualiifying for abstracting, indexing, and ISI ranking scan for more information about journals Willie Wiley, global leader in research and Education PublishingAcademic resources search platform: onlinelibrary.wiley.com