Article

Live-cell fluorescence imaging of ciliary dynamics

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  • 1 Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Signaling, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702, USA;
    2 Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Published date: 30 Apr 2021

Abstract

The cilium was one of the first organelles observed through a microscope. Motile cilia appear as oscillating cell appendages and have long been recognized to function in cell motility. In contrast, the far more widespread non-motile cilia, termed primary cilia, were thought to be vestigial and largely ignored following their initial description over a century ago. Only in the last two decades has the critical function of primary cilia been elucidated. Primary cilia play essential roles in signal transduction, chemical sensation, mechanosensation and light detection. Various microscopy approaches have been important for characterizing the structure, dynamics and function of the cilia. In this review, we discuss the application of live-cell imaging technologies and their contribution to our current understanding of ciliary processes.

Cite this article

Lü Quanlong, Zhang Chuanmao, Westlake Christopher J. . Live-cell fluorescence imaging of ciliary dynamics[J]. Biophysics Reports, 2021 , 7(2) : 101 -110 . DOI: 10.52601/bpr.2021.210005

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