Introducing all new frens.

Long haired is Balou. Daple short hair is Marcel. Wirehaired one is Gust. And the alpha of them all, is me! I'm mixed dachshund and pomeranian.

Hope we can be great frens! Arf arf!

How whip-like cell appendages promote bodily fluid flow

Some cells in the body contain long thin structures called cilia on their surface, which exhibit a whip-like motion that promotes the flow of fluid past the cell. Although these cilia are known to play vital roles in the body, much remains to be understood about their molecular components and the mechanisms by which they work. This is especially true for the cilia on cells that line the ventricles of the brain, which contain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that has various functions including cushioning the brain against potentially damaging impacts.

A team at Nagoya University has shed light on this issue by revealing that a molecule called Daple is essential for cilia to adopt an arrangement by which they can beat in one direction at the same time, thereby creating a flow of fluid past the cell exterior. This arrangement on cell surfaces all along the lining of ventricles in the brain ensures the correct flow of CSF, which in turn prevents its accumulation associated with brain swelling known as hydrocephalus.

Maki Takagishi, Masato Sawada, Shinya Ohata, Naoya Asai, Atsushi Enomoto, Kunihiko Takahashi, Liang Weng, Kaori Ushida, Hosne Ara, Shigeyuki Matsui, Kozo Kaibuchi, Kazunobu Sawamoto, Masahide Takahashi. Daple Coordinates Planar Polarized Microtubule Dynamics in Ependymal Cells and Contributes to Hydrocephalus. Cell Reports, 2017; 20 (4): 960 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.06.089