ArticleNature2016
Primary cilia are not calcium-responsive mechanosensors.
Article in Nature, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 200 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
200 citing papers in PubMed, 349 citations in OpenAlex.
- Primary cilium as a sensory organelle and metabolic hub in health and diseases.Journal of biomedical science · 2026Review
- Flow-driven lumen remodeling and valve opening in the vas deferens.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Cilia-to-basement membrane signaling is a biomechanical driver in models of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Article
- Structural basis of lipid-dependent allosteric gating mechanisms for PC1-PC2 ion channel.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Polycystin-1 and Cardiac Remodeling: From Mechanotransduction to Clinical Consequences.Circulation research · 2026Review
- Pathophysiological significance of cholesterol in ciliopathies.Fujita medical journal · 2026Article
- Artificial embryonic node elucidates the role of flow in left-right symmetry breaking in vertebrates.Science advances · 2026Article
- Ciliary IFT88 inhibits intervertebral disc degeneration under excessive mechanical stress by regulating endplate cartilage calcification.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Altered ciliary morphology reduces mechanosensation in a cystic kidney model as indicated by a mathematical model.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Lack of ANKMY2 suppresses kidney cystogenesis in embryonic- and adult-onset polycystic kidney disease.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Tackling ciliary specialization to understand phenotypic variability in human primary ciliopathies.Journal of cell science · 2025Review
- Cholesterol ensures ciliary polycystin-2 localization to prevent polycystic kidney disease.Life science alliance · 2025Article
- Review
- Transient Receptor Potential Channels in Vascular Mechanotransduction.American journal of hypertension · 2025Review
- The dynamics of tubulogenesis in development and disease.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2025Review
- Pathogenic Pathways and Therapeutic Strategies in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD).Journal of cellular signaling · 2025Article
- Shear stress effects on epididymal epithelial cell via primary cilia mechanosensory signaling.Journal of cellular physiology · 2025Article
- The mutual interaction of TRPC5 channel with polycystin proteins.The Korean journal of physiology & pharmacology : official journal of the Korean Physiological Society and the Korean Society of Pharmacology · 2025Article
- Neuronal guidance behaviours: the primary cilium perspective.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Breaking Left-Right Symmetry by the Interplay of Planar Cell Polarity, Calcium Signaling and Cilia.Cells · 2024Review
140 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Primary cilia are solitary, generally non-motile, hair-like protrusions that extend from the surface of cells between cell divisions. Their antenna-like structure leads naturally to the assumption that they sense the surrounding environment, the most common hypothesis being sensation of mechanical force through calcium-permeable ion channels within the cilium. This Ca(2+)-responsive mechanosensor hypothesis for primary cilia has been invoked to explain a large range of biological responses, from control of left-right axis determination in embryonic development to adult progression of polycystic kidney disease and some cancers. Here we report the complete lack of mechanically induced calcium increases in primary cilia, in tissues upon which this hypothesis has been based. We developed a transgenic mouse, Arl13b-mCherry-GECO1.2, expressing a ratiometric genetically encoded calcium indicator in all primary cilia. We then measured responses to flow in primary cilia of cultured kidney epithelial cells, kidney thick ascending tubules, crown cells of the embryonic node, kinocilia of inner ear hair cells, and several cell lines. Cilia-specific Ca(2+) influxes were not observed in physiological or even highly supraphysiological levels of fluid flow. We conclude that mechanosensation, if it originates in primary cilia, is not via calcium signalling.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.