Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Intraflagellar transport

Architecture of intraflagellar transport complexes

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 30, pages 570–573 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Cilia — or flagella, as they are interchangeably termed — are appendage-like organelles extending from eukaryotic cells. Several recent structural studies on intraflagellar transport (IFT) trains shed light on these fascinating complexes, including their assembly mechanism, stability, cargo recruitment and evolution.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Structure of cilium and IFT.
Fig. 2: Structures and phylogeny of IFT-A and IFT-B components.
Fig. 3: In situ structure of IFT train.

References

  1. Rosenbaum, J. L. & Witman, G. B. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3, 813–825 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lacey, S. E., Foster, H. E. & Pigino, G. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00905-5 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Meleppattu, S., Zhou, H., Dai, J., Gui, M. & Brown, A. Cell 185, 4986–4998.e12 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ma, Y. et al. Nat. Commun. 14, 1506 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Hesketh, S. J., Mukhopadhyay, A. G., Nakamura, D., Toropova, K. & Roberts, A. J. Cell 185, 4971–4985.e16 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Jiang, M. et al. Cell Res. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-023-00778-3 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Petriman, N. A. et al. EMBO J. 41, e112440 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. van Dam, T. J. P. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 6943–6948 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Quidwai, T. et al. eLife 10, e69786 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Pigino, G. et al. J. Cell Biol. 187, 135–148 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. van den Hoek, H. et al. Science 377, 543–548 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Pazour, G. J. et al. J. Cell Biol. 151, 709–718 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Nozaki, S., Castro Araya, R. F., Katoh, Y. & Nakayama, K. Biol. Open 8, bio043786 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Ahmed, N. T., Gao, C., Lucker, B. F., Cole, D. G. & Mitchell, D. R. J. Cell Biol. 183, 313–322 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Zimmermann, N., Noga, A., Obbineni, J. M. & Ishikawa, T. EMBO J. https://doi.org/10.15252/embj.2022112466 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author thanks G. Pigino and A. Roberts for providing density map and coordinates used in the figures. The study of the author is funded by grant from Swiss National Science Foundation (310030_192644).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute Villigen, Villigen, Switzerland

    Takashi Ishikawa

  2. Department of Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Takashi Ishikawa

Authors
  1. Takashi Ishikawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takashi Ishikawa.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ishikawa, T. Architecture of intraflagellar transport complexes. Nat Struct Mol Biol 30, 570–573 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-00986-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-00986-w

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing