Molecular principles of mammalian cilia diversity

Cilia are small, microtubule-based structures found on the surface of most mammalian cell types and that play important sensory and sometimes motile functions. Cilia are required for embryonic development and postnatally, for how we see, hear, smell, breathe, excrete and reproduce. Mutations in over 200 genes that affect cilia structure and/or function result in a growing list of over 40 syndromic conditions termed the ciliopathies. However, there is a growing discordance between patient genotype and associated phenotypes, with variable severity and expressivity characteristic of the ciliopathies as a group. This is in part because of the staggering structural and functional diversity of the mammalian cilia repertoire, with the underlying differences in dynamics of assembly and final molecular architecture still largely unexplored. These gaps in our understanding impact genetic diagnosis, clinical management and the development of therapeutics for the ciliopathies.

We identify novel disease genes, build new disease models and uncover fundamental disease mechanisms. We engineer powerful in vivo biosensors and proximity-based proteomics reporters in mice to begin to profile differences in the mammalian cilia repertoire. We generate novel genome editing reporters to track in real time the differential ability to target primary cells and control editing outcomes in vivo, thereby enabling us to drive efforts towards 'genome surgery' so as to correct rare diseases like ciliopathies. We work with patient advisory groups nationally and internationally, drafted policy documents and acted as a hub for the international cilia and centrosome community throughout the pandemic.

Here, we will harness the expertise and resources that we have developed to test exciting new hypotheses addressing how cilia diversity is hardwired at a genetic level, but also adaptively integrated at a spatial and temporal level to allow the cell to execute specialized functions via these cilia. We will explore the basis of the underlying susceptibility of different mammalian cilia types to dysfunction, and develop strategies to reverse these cellular and tissue level phenotypes with genome therapies.

This study aims to define the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation underlying mammalian cilia diversity and how different types of mammalian cilia are differentially sensitive to perturbation in mouse models of human ciliopathies. From -OMiCs analyses to single molecule live imaging in primary cell types, we use cutting-edge cell biology, advanced imaging and bioinformatics to understand complex regulatory mechanisms which underly cilia diveristy. Using humanized mouse models of disease, we will investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying disease which disrupt specific types of cilia and in turn gain insight in how to develop therapeutic strategies to turn them back on again.