Structure, interaction and nervous connectivity of beta cell primary cilia
Primary cilia are sensory organelles present in many cell types, partaking in various signaling processes. Primary cilia of pancreatic beta cells play pivotal roles in paracrine signaling and their dysfunction is linked to diabetes. Yet, the structural basis for their functions is unclear. We present three-dimensional reconstructions of beta cell primary cilia by electron and expansion microscopy. These cilia are spatially confined within deep ciliary pockets or narrow spaces between cells, lack motility components and display an unstructured axoneme organization. Furthermore, we observe a plethora of beta cell cilia-cilia and cilia-cell interactions with other islet and non-islet cells. Most remarkably, we have identified and characterized axo-ciliary synapses between beta cell cilia and the cholinergic islet innervation. These findings highlight the beta cell cilia's role in islet connectivity, pointing at their function in integrating islet intrinsic and extrinsic signals and contribute to understanding their significance in health and diabetes.
Authors
- Carla Münster
- Deborah Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8621-9438)
- Jürgen Weitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5760-6391)
- C. Shan Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8564-7836)
- Marius Distler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3164-5755)
- Nicole Kipke
- Susanne Kretschmar
- Hassan Mziaut (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1743-7933)
- Solange Aurrecoechea Duran
- Michele Solimena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3653-8107)
- Daniela Friedland
- Song Pang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7231-4151)
- Oleksandra Topcheva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2010-2410)
- Thomas Kurth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5624-1717)
- Gaia Pigino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2295-9568)
- Nikolai Klena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2631-2294)
- Harald F. Hess (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3000-1533)
- Eyke Schöniger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3692-1747)
- Andreas Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3560-5769)
- Davud Sulaymankhil
- Monika Seliskar
- Leticia Elizabeth Galicia Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7891-7785)
Institutions
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Janelia Research Campus (US)
- Max Delbrück Center (DE)
- Yale University (US)
- Human Technopole (IT)
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden (DE)
- Deutsches Diabetes-Zentrum e.V. (DE)
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DE)
- University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (DE)
- Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden (DE)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
- Cooper Union (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-10-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53348-5
- Citations
- 16
- Primary Topic
- Pancreatic function and diabetes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.16