ArticlePloS one2012
Three-dimensional structure of the Trypanosome flagellum suggests that the paraflagellar rod functions as a biomechanical spring.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed.
- Advances in Imaging Techniques for Mammalian/Human Ciliated Cell's Cilia: Insights into Structure, Function, and Dynamics.Biology · 2025Review
- Modelling motility of Trypanosoma brucei.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Trypanosome doublet microtubule structures reveal flagellum assembly and motility mechanisms.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- ARL3 GTPases facilitate ODA16 unloading from IFT in motile cilia.Science advances · 2024Article
- Isotropic reconstruction for electron tomography with deep learning.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Structure, function and druggability of the African trypanosome flagellum.Journal of cellular physiology · 2022Review
- Structure of the trypanosome paraflagellar rod and insights into non-planar motility of eukaryotic cells.Cell discovery · 2021Article
- APEX2 Proximity Proteomics Resolves Flagellum Subdomains and Identifies Flagellum Tip-Specific Proteins in Trypanosoma brucei.mSphere · 2021Article
- The Remarkable Metabolism ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The single flagellum ofJournal of cell science · 2020Article
- Multiparametric Atomic Force Microscopy Identifies Multiple Structural and Physical Heterogeneities on the Surface ofACS omega · 2020Article
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- Bidirectional intraflagellar transport is restricted to two sets of microtubule doublets in the trypanosome flagellum.The Journal of cell biology · 2018Article
- Biallelic Mutations in LRRC56, Encoding a Protein Associated with Intraflagellar Transport, Cause Mucociliary Clearance and Laterality Defects.American journal of human genetics · 2018Article
- Direction of flagellum beat propagation is controlled by proximal/distal outer dynein arm asymmetry.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Article
- Parasite motility is critical for virulence of African trypanosomes.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Molecular mechanisms of thermal resistance of the insect trypanosomatid Crithidia thermophila.PloS one · 2017Article
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- Simulating the complex cell design of Trypanosoma brucei and its motility.PLoS computational biology · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Flagellum motility is critical for normal human development and for transmission of pathogenic protozoa that cause tremendous human suffering worldwide. Biophysical principles underlying motility of eukaryotic flagella are conserved from protists to vertebrates. However, individual cells exhibit diverse waveforms that depend on cell-specific elaborations on basic flagellum architecture. Trypanosoma brucei is a uniflagellated protozoan parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. The T. brucei flagellum is comprised of a 9+2 axoneme and an extra-axonemal paraflagellar rod (PFR), but the three-dimensional (3D) arrangement of the underlying structural units is poorly defined. Here, we use dual-axis electron tomography to determine the 3D architecture of the T. brucei flagellum. We define the T. brucei axonemal repeating unit. We observe direct connections between the PFR and axonemal dyneins, suggesting a mechanism by which mechanochemical signals may be transmitted from the PFR to axonemal dyneins. We find that the PFR itself is comprised of overlapping laths organized into distinct zones that are connected through twisting elements at the zonal interfaces. The overall structure has an underlying 57 nm repeating unit. Biomechanical properties inferred from PFR structure lead us to propose that the PFR functions as a biomechanical spring that may store and transmit energy derived from axonemal beating. These findings provide insight into the structural foundations that underlie the distinctive flagellar waveform that is a hallmark of T. brucei cell motility.
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