Axonemal structures reveal mechanoregulatory and disease mechanisms

Motile cilia and flagella beat rhythmically on the surface of cells to power the flow of fluid and to enable spermatozoa and unicellular eukaryotes to swim. In humans, defective ciliary motility can lead to male infertility and a congenital disorder called primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), in which impaired clearance of mucus by the cilia causes chronic respiratory infections1. Ciliary movement is generated by the axoneme, a molecular machine consisting of microtubules, ATP-powered dynein motors and regulatory complexes2. The size and complexity of the axoneme has so far prevented the development of an atomic model, hindering efforts to understand how it functions. Here we capitalize on recent developments in artificial intelligence-enabled structure prediction and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the structure of the 96-nm modular repeats of axonemes from the flagella of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and human respiratory cilia. Our atomic models provide insights into the conservation and specialization of axonemes, the interconnectivity between dyneins and their regulators, and the mechanisms that maintain axonemal periodicity. Correlated conformational changes in mechanoregulatory complexes with their associated axonemal dynein motors provide a mechanism for the long-hypothesized mechanotransduction pathway to regulate ciliary motility. Structures of respiratory-cilia doublet microtubules from four individuals with PCD reveal how the loss of individual docking factors can selectively eradicate periodically repeating structures

Mutation of CFAP57, a protein required for the asymmetric targeting of a subset of inner dynein arms in Chlamydomonas, causes primary ciliary dyskinesia

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is characterized by chronic airway disease, reduced fertility, and randomization of the left/right body axis. It is caused by defects of motile cilia and sperm flagella. We screened a cohort of affected individuals that lack an obvious axonemal defect for pathogenic variants using whole exome capture, next generation sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis assuming an autosomal recessive trait. We identified one subject with an apparently homozygous nonsense variant [(c.1762C\u3eT), p.(Arg588*)] in the uncharacterized CFAP57 gene. Interestingly, the variant results in the skipping of exon 11 (58 amino acids), which may be due to disruption of an exonic splicing enhancer. In normal human nasal epithelial cells, CFAP57 localizes throughout the ciliary axoneme. Nasal cells from the PCD patient express a shorter, mutant version of CFAP57 and the protein is not incorporated into the axoneme. The missing 58 amino acids include portions of WD repeats that may be important for loading onto the intraflagellar transport (IFT) complexes for transport or docking onto the axoneme. A reduced beat frequency and an alteration in ciliary waveform was observed. Knockdown of CFAP57 in human tracheobronchial epithelial cells (hTECs) recapitulates these findings. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CFAP57 is highly conserved in organisms that assemble motile cilia. CFAP57 is allelic with the BOP2/IDA8/FAP57 gene identified previously in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Two independent, insertional fap57 Chlamydomonas mutant strains show reduced swimming velocity and altered waveforms. Tandem mass tag (TMT) mass spectroscopy shows that FAP57 is missing, and the g inner dyneins (DHC7 and DHC3) and the d inner dynein (DHC2) are reduced, but the FAP57 paralog FBB7 is increased. Together, our data identify a homozygous variant in CFAP57 that causes PCD that is likely due to a defect in the inner dynein arm assembly process

Caractérisation des mécanismes du battement ciliaire dans le cadre du transport mucociliaire normal et pathologique

Mucociliary clearance is the first line of defense of the respiratory tract. Alteration of this clearance leads to a stagnation and/or accumulation of mucus, potentially resulting in more or less partially obstructions and in chronic infections of the airways. There are two main types of mucociliary clearance alterations. The first one is linked to the mucus characteristics, as in cystic fibrosis. The second one is connected to cilium ultrastructure abnormalities and/or ciliary beating defects encompassed by the term of "ciliopathies" which may be primary or acquired.This work, which takes place in the clinical issue of respiratory ciliopathies and their care, aims to better characterize, through biomechanics tools, the mechanisms of ciliary beating (including a measurement of the global efficiency of cilia) and to transfer these knowledges in favor of the clinical management.A methodology of systematic characterization of the ciliary mechanics, from biological samples derived from patients observed through high-speed video-microscopy analysis, has been developed as the same time as the development of a numerical model incorporating the coupling between ciliary beating and fluid motion. This association between experiments and numerical model allowed to propose a new index usable by the clinicians to characterize the ciliary beating efficiency. This index has the advantage of not requiring a modification of the clinical practice of biological data collectionL'épuration mucociliaire est la première ligne de défense de l'appareil respiratoire. L'altération de l'épuration mucociliaire se traduit par une stagnation et/ou une accumulation de mucus, conduisant potentiellement à des obstructions plus ou moins partielles et à des infections chroniques des voies aériennes. On compte deux grands types d'altération de l'épuration mucociliaire. Le premier est lié aux caractéristiques du mucus, comme dans le cas de la mucoviscidose. Le deuxième est lié à des anomalies de l'ultrastructure du cil et /ou de son battement regroupées sous le terme de "ciliopathies"qui peuvent être soit innées soit acquises.Ce travail, qui s'inscrit dans le cadre clinique de la problématique des ciliopathies respiratoires et de leur prise en charge, a pour objectif de mieux caractériser, à partir des outils de la Biomécanique, les mécanismes du battement ciliaire (incluant une mesure de l'efficacité globale du battement des cils) et à transférer ces connaissances au profit de la clinique.Pour cela une méthodologie de caractérisation systématique de la mécanique ciliaire à partir de prélèvements biologiques issus de patients observés par vidéo-microscopie à haute vitesse a été développée parallèlement au développement d'un modèle numérique intégrant le couplage entre battement ciliaire et transport de fluide. Cette association entre expériences et modèle numérique a permis de proposer un nouvel index utilisable par les cliniciens pour caractériser l'efficacité du battement ciliaire. Cet index présente l'avantage de ne pas exiger de modification de la pratique clinique concernant la collecte de données biologique

Characterization of ciliary beat mechanisms under normal and pathological mucociliary clearance

L'épuration mucociliaire est la première ligne de défense de l'appareil respiratoire. L'altération de l'épuration mucociliaire se traduit par une stagnation et/ou une accumulation de mucus, conduisant potentiellement à des obstructions plus ou moins partielles et à des infections chroniques des voies aériennes. On compte deux grands types d'altération de l'épuration mucociliaire. Le premier est lié aux caractéristiques du mucus, comme dans le cas de la mucoviscidose. Le deuxième est lié à des anomalies de l'ultrastructure du cil et /ou de son battement regroupées sous le terme de "ciliopathies"qui peuvent être soit innées soit acquises.Ce travail, qui s'inscrit dans le cadre clinique de la problématique des ciliopathies respiratoires et de leur prise en charge, a pour objectif de mieux caractériser, à partir des outils de la Biomécanique, les mécanismes du battement ciliaire (incluant une mesure de l'efficacité globale du battement des cils) et à transférer ces connaissances au profit de la clinique.Pour cela une méthodologie de caractérisation systématique de la mécanique ciliaire à partir de prélèvements biologiques issus de patients observés par vidéo-microscopie à haute vitesse a été développée parallèlement au développement d'un modèle numérique intégrant le couplage entre battement ciliaire et transport de fluide. Cette association entre expériences et modèle numérique a permis de proposer un nouvel index utilisable par les cliniciens pour caractériser l'efficacité du battement ciliaire. Cet index présente l'avantage de ne pas exiger de modification de la pratique clinique concernant la collecte de données biologiquesMucociliary clearance is the first line of defense of the respiratory tract. Alteration of this clearance leads to a stagnation and/or accumulation of mucus, potentially resulting in more or less partially obstructions and in chronic infections of the airways. There are two main types of mucociliary clearance alterations. The first one is linked to the mucus characteristics, as in cystic fibrosis. The second one is connected to cilium ultrastructure abnormalities and/or ciliary beating defects encompassed by the term of "ciliopathies" which may be primary or acquired.This work, which takes place in the clinical issue of respiratory ciliopathies and their care, aims to better characterize, through biomechanics tools, the mechanisms of ciliary beating (including a measurement of the global efficiency of cilia) and to transfer these knowledges in favor of the clinical management.A methodology of systematic characterization of the ciliary mechanics, from biological samples derived from patients observed through high-speed video-microscopy analysis, has been developed as the same time as the development of a numerical model incorporating the coupling between ciliary beating and fluid motion. This association between experiments and numerical model allowed to propose a new index usable by the clinicians to characterize the ciliary beating efficiency. This index has the advantage of not requiring a modification of the clinical practice of biological data collectio

Methods for the assessment of human airway ciliary function

Airway ciliary function analysis underpins PCD diagnostics and ex vivo/in vitro mucociliary clearance studies. It is an important measure of airway culture model integrity in health and after microbial/viral infections or airway drug therapies

A new index for characterizing micro-bead motion in a flow induced by ciliary beating: Part II, modeling.

Mucociliary clearance is one of the major lines of defense of the human respiratory system. The mucus layer coating the airways is constantly moved along and out of the lung by the activity of motile cilia, expelling at the same time particles trapped in it. The efficiency of the cilia motion can experimentally be assessed by measuring the velocity of micro-beads traveling through the fluid surrounding the cilia. Here we present a mathematical model of the fluid flow and of the micro-beads motion. The coordinated movement of the ciliated edge is represented as a continuous envelope imposing a periodic moving velocity boundary condition on the surrounding fluid. Vanishing velocity and vanishing shear stress boundary conditions are applied to the fluid at a finite distance above the ciliated edge. The flow field is expanded in powers of the amplitude of the individual cilium movement. It is found that the continuous component of the horizontal velocity at the ciliated edge generates a 2D fluid velocity field with a parabolic profile in the vertical direction, in agreement with the experimental measurements. Conversely, we show than this model can be used to extract microscopic properties of the cilia motion by extrapolating the micro-bead velocity measurement at the ciliated edge. Finally, we derive from these measurements a scalar index providing a direct assessment of the cilia beating efficiency. This index can easily be measured in patients without any modification of the current clinical procedures

Towards the in-vivo automated assessment of nasal cilia mobility

International audienceIntroduction. Cilia motility is an important diagnostic feature for various nasal diseases, both of acquired and genetic origin. So far this assessment has been performed ex-vivo in nasal samples. Sampling is invasive and may damage cilia, and ex-vivo measurements may not always reflect the in-vivo cilia function. In this work we investigated the possibility of assessing cilia motility in vivo in humans with a preliminary study using confocal micro-endoscopy.Materials and methods. We used the high-power laser confocal endoscope developed by Mauna Kea Technology (MKT). This device has a 1µm spatial resolution and a temporal resolution varying between 8 and 90 Hz. Ex-vivo pig trachea samples and human nasal biopsy samples were labelled with fluorescent marker Octadecyl Rhodamine B Chloride (R18). Beating cilia were easily identified allowing the acquisition of 40 videos ready for analysis. Using in-house software that estimates frequencies based on luminance variation in a small window and FFT analysis, we evaluated cilia and compared the beat frequency with ground truth.Results. We validated our estimations on all sequences acquired between 30 and 90Hz. Videos acquired at less than 30Hz did not offer sufficient temporal resolution We only observed occasional errors when the software identified a harmonic oscillation instead of the fundamental frequency