Stereotypical interciliary contacts in a C. elegans sense organ
Abstract
Physical interactions among cells and their processes are critical for intercellular communication and the generation of ordered tissue patterns. Primary cilia projecting from the cell surface have recently been shown to form contacts with the processes of diverse cell types, as well as with other cilia, in the brain and other organs. Whether these ciliary contacts are established in an instructive manner or are formed passively due to physical proximity is unclear. Ultrastructural analyses previously showed that the cilia of a subset of sensory neurons in the head amphid organs of C. elegans exhibit interciliary contacts within a glia-defined channel. Here we show that these ciliary contact patterns are stereotyped and can be established in the absence of neighboring cilia, indicating that these associations may not simply reflect relative positioning within the amphid channel. We show that mutations in genes implicated in ciliary protein trafficking, ciliary membrane phospholipid composition, and cilia–cell interactions disrupt cilia structure and/or interciliary contacts and that in a subset of mutants, cilia with altered morphologies can nevertheless establish correct contacts. Together, our findings suggest that cilia–cilia interactions within a sense organ are established via instructive mechanisms and raise the possibility that cellular functions may be modulated by cilia-mediated intercellular communication.
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BibTeX
@article{krishnan2026stereotypical,
title = {{Stereotypical interciliary contacts in a C. elegans sense organ}},
author = {Nikhila Krishnan and Samantha Leslie and Hannah Lawson and Yu-Ming Lu and Leland Wexler and Kirsten Judge and Maxwell G Heiman and Piali Sengupta},
journal = {G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1093/g3journal/jkag238},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkag238},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Stereotypical interciliary contacts in a C. elegans sense organ
AU - Nikhila Krishnan
AU - Samantha Leslie
AU - Hannah Lawson
AU - Yu-Ming Lu
AU - Leland Wexler
AU - Kirsten Judge
AU - Maxwell G Heiman
AU - Piali Sengupta
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/22
JO - G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics
DO - 10.1093/g3journal/jkag238
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkag238
AB - Physical interactions among cells and their processes are critical for intercellular communication and the generation of ordered tissue patterns. Primary cilia projecting from the cell surface have recently been shown to form contacts with the processes of diverse cell types, as well as with other cilia, in the brain and other organs. Whether these ciliary contacts are established in an instructive manner or are formed passively due to physical proximity is unclear. Ultrastructural analyses previously showed that the cilia of a subset of sensory neurons in the head amphid organs of C. elegans exhibit interciliary contacts within a glia-defined channel. Here we show that these ciliary contact patterns are stereotyped and can be established in the absence of neighboring cilia, indicating that these associations may not simply reflect relative positioning within the amphid channel. We show that mutations in genes implicated in ciliary protein trafficking, ciliary membrane phospholipid composition, and cilia–cell interactions disrupt cilia structure and/or interciliary contacts and that in a subset of mutants, cilia with altered morphologies can nevertheless establish correct contacts. Together, our findings suggest that cilia–cilia interactions within a sense organ are established via instructive mechanisms and raise the possibility that cellular functions may be modulated by cilia-mediated intercellular communication.
SN - 2160-1836
ER -