Cilia in the Brain Display Region-Dependent Oscillations of Length and Orientation

Authors

Roudabeh Vakil Monfared, University of California, Irvine
Sherif Abdelkarim, University of California, Irvine
Pieter Derdeyn, University of California, Irvine
Kiki Chen, University of California, Irvine
Hanting Wu, University of California, Irvine
Kenneth Leong, University of California, Irvine
Tiffany Chang, University of California, Irvine
Justine Lee, University of California, Irvine
Sara Versales, University of California, Irvine
Surya M. Nauli, Chapman UniversityFollow
Kevin Beier, University of California, Irvine
Pierre Baldi, University of California, Irvine
Amal Alachkar, University of California, Irvine

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-11-2025

Abstract

In this study, we conducted high-throughput spatiotemporal analysis of primary cilia length and orientation across 22 mouse brain regions. We developed automated image analysis algorithms, which enabled us to examine over 10 million individual cilia, generating the largest spatiotemporal atlas of cilia. We found that cilia length and orientation display substantial variations across different brain regions and exhibit fluctuations over a 24-h period, with region-specific peaks during light-dark phases. Our analysis revealed unique orientation patterns of cilia, suggesting that cilia orientation within the brain is not random but follows specific patterns. Using BioCycle, we identified rhythmic fluctuations in cilia length across five brain regions: the nucleus accumbens core, somatosensory cortex, and the dorsomedial, ventromedial, and arcuate hypothalamic nuclei. Our findings present novel insights into the brain cilia dynamics, and highlight the need for further investigation into cilia’s role in the brain’s response to environmental changes and regulation of oscillatory physiological processes.

Comments

This article was originally published in PLoS Biology, volume 23, issue 7, in 2025. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003197

Recommended Citation

Monfared RV, Abdelkarim S, Derdeyn P, Chen K, Wu H, Leong K, et al. (2025) Cilia in the brain display regiondependent oscillations of length and orientation. PLoS Biol 23(7): e3003197. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003197

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.