Oncology & Cancer

Cellular cilium an early sign of mesothelioma differentiation

A new study has investigated the expression of the primary cilium in mesothelioma, finding that primary cilia is preferentially lost in the more aggressive subtype of mesothelioma and further research may confirm its potential ...

Genetics

Researchers develop gene therapy for rare ciliopathy

Researchers from the National Eye Institute (NEI) have developed a gene therapy that rescues cilia defects in retinal cells affected by a type of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a disease that causes blindness in early ...

Genetics

Overlooked cilium could be genetic key to common diseases

Until recently, scientists believed that the primary cilium—an antenna-like structure found on the surface of most human cells—was largely vestigial and had little bearing on the day-to-day lives of human beings. But ...

Neuroscience

How an unlikely cellular 'antenna' can impair brain development

An antenna-like structure on cells, once considered a useless vestige, appears to be important for proper brain development in mammals and when impaired can cause defects in the brain's wiring similar to what's seen in autism, ...

Oncology & Cancer

Better treatment for kidney cancer thanks to new mouse model

Research in the field of kidney cancer, also called renal cancer, is vital, because many patients with this disease still cannot be cured today. Researchers from the University of Zurich have now identified some of the gene ...

Genetics

Study shows how common obesity gene contributes to weight gain

Researchers have discovered how a gene commonly linked to obesity—FTO—contributes to weight gain. The study shows that variations in FTO indirectly affect the function of the primary cilium, a little-understood hair-like ...

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Cilium

A cilium (Latin for eyelash; the plural is cilia) is an organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Cilia are slender protuberances that project from the much larger cell body.

There are two types of cilia: motile cilia and non-motile, or primary cilia, which typically serve as sensory organelles. In eukaryotes, cilia and flagella together make up a group of organelles known as undulipodia. Eukaryotic cilia are structurally identical to Eukaryotic flagella, although distinctions are sometimes made according to function and/or length.

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