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First published online August 20, 2008

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Flagella flick the dynein switch

In motile cells such as sperm, the characteristic beating motion of the cell's flagellum drives directional movement. Flagellar bending, in which adjacent microtubule doublets in the axoneme slide forwards or backwards with respect to each other, is catalysed by the microtubule-associated motor dynein, and beating has been proposed to arise from the alternate activation of dynein on either side of the axoneme's central pair of microtubules (switching). It has remained unclear, however, how the activity of dynein is turned on and off. On page 2833, Shuichi Hayashi and Chikako Shingyoji use elastase-treated axonemes of sea urchin sperm to investigate dynein activation. It is known that forced bending of the flagellum itself can induce dynein activity, and the authors now show that the direction of bending affects the likelihood of activation. Notably, the velocity of backward sliding in the model system is significantly lower than that of forward sliding, which indicates that distinct pools of dynein mediate the two processes. The authors go on to show that the switching of dynein activity is promoted when a pair of opposite bends is present in the axoneme. These data aid our understanding of the mechanism of flagellar beating.

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Related articles in JCS:

Mechanism of flagellar oscillation–bending-induced switching of dynein activity in elastase-treated axonemes of sea urchin sperm

Shuichi Hayashi and Chikako Shingyoji
JCS 2008 121: 2833-2843. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?