This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Axoneme is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Numerous eukaryotic cells carry whip-like appendages (cilia or eukaryotic flagella) whose inner core consists of a cytoskeletal structure called the axoneme. The axoneme serves as the "skeleton" of these organelles, both giving support to the structure and, in some cases, causing it to bend. Though distinctions of function and/or length may be made between cilia and flagella, the internal structure of the axoneme is common to both.
The building block of the axonmene is the microtubule; each axoneme is composed of several microtubules aligned in parallel. More specifically, the microtubules are arranged in a characteristic pattern known as the “9x2 + 2," as shown in the image at right. Nine sets of "doublet" microtubules (a specialized structure consisting of two linked microtubules) form a ring around a "central pair" of single microtubules.
Besides the microtubules, the axoneme contains many proteins and protein complexes necessary for its function. The dynein arms, for example, are motor complexes which produce the force needed for bending. Each dynein arm is anchored to a doublet microtubule; by "walking" along an adjacent microtubule, the dynein motors can cause the microtubules to slide against each other. When this is carried out in a synchronized fashion, with the microtubules on one side of the axonmene being pulled 'down' and those on the other side pulled 'up,' the axoneme as a whole can bend back and forth. This process is responsible for ciliary/flagellar beating, as in the well-known example of the human sperm.
The radial spoke is another protein complex of the axoneme. Thought to be important in regulating the motion of the axoneme, this "T"-shaped complex projects from each set of outer doublets toward the central microtubules.
The axoneme structure in non-motile primary cilium shows some variation from the canonical “9x2 + 2” anatomy. No dynein arms are found on the outer doublet microtubules, and there is no pair of central microtubule singlets. This organization of axoneme is referred as “9x2 + 0”. In addition, “9x2 + 1” axonemes, with only a single central microtubule, have been found to exist. Primary cilia appear to serve sensory functions.
Further reading
Vogel, G. (2005). "Betting on cilia". Science 310.
Porter, M.E. and Sale, W.S. (2000). "The 9 + 2 Axoneme Anchors Multiple Inner Arm Dyneins and a Network of Kinases and Phosphatases that Control Motility". The Journal of Cell Biology 151: F37–42. doi:. PMID 11086017.
Dillon, R.H. and Fauci, L.J. (2000). "An Integrative Model of Internal Axoneme Mechanics and External Fluid Dynamics in Ciliary Beating". Journal Theoretical Biology 207: 415–30. doi:. PMID 11082310.
Omoto, C.K., Gibbons, I.R., Kamiya, R., Shingyoji, C., Takahashi, K., and Witman, G.B. (1999). "Rotation of the Central Pair Microtubules in Eukaryotic Flagella". Molecular Biology Cell 10: 1–4. PMID 9880321.
Rosenbaum, J.L., Cole, D.G., and Diener D.R. (1999). "Intraflagellar transport: the eyes have it". Journal of Cell Biology 1999: 385–8. doi:. PMID 9971734.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 25 September 2008, at 08:46.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Axoneme".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.