Essay On Cilia

Cilia are very important eukaryotic cellular organelles. They are short, hair like projections arising from a cell body that is relatively much larger in size than the cilia itself. In the unicellular animals, cilia are used for locomotion, however, in more complex animals like mammals, cilia have much more specialized functions. Cilia are now classified in to three types: the motile cilia, primary cilia and the nodal cilia. The motile cilia are present in epithelial cell surfaces of the trachea and the fallopian tubes of uterus and beat in a rhythmic pattern to produce movement in the fluid. The primary cilia form the basis of many specialized sensory structures. The nodal cilia generate asymmetric movement at the site of gastrulation, the embryonic node. This essay will explore the role of motile cilia damage and genetic mutation in the array of respiratory diseases.

All types of cilia have a length of about 10-15 μm and comprises of the same basic structure. A cilium is a microtubule-based organelle, which extends from a microtubule organizing chamber- the basal body, a centriole and at the apical surface of the cell bears microtubule cytoskeleton called the ciliary axoneme surrounded by a specialized ciliary membrane. The primary or the non-motile cilia consist of the ‘9+0’ arrangement of the axoneme, with the normal nine outer microtubule doublets and no central microtubule pair. Since the primary cilia are non-motile, therefore they usually lack dynein arms and radial spokes connected to the microtubule doublets. Primary cilia can receive signals from the extracellular biochemical and physical environments. Nodal cilia like primary cilia, occur solitary, having the 9+0 arrangement of axoneme, however, nodal cilia bears L, R...

... middle of paper ...

...tly control CBF by adjusting the double sliding velocity in the axoneme without greatly affecting beat pattern. As a result of the PCD, cilia becomes dysfunctional and damaged, causing several respiratory infections such as Rhino sinusitis, Chronic secretory otitis media, hearing impairment and Nasal polyps (rarely in children) in the upper respiratory pathway and Recurrent lower respiratory infections, Bronchiectasis and Respiratory failure in the lower respiratory pathway.

In conclusion, the advancement in the research of cilia structure, motility and the consequent diseases has revealed the significance of these ‘hair like’ structures on human health and wellbeing. The MCT gets impaired due to the ciliary dysfunction resulting from the mutation and damage to cilia in patients suffering from PCD. onsets the development of diseases in the upper and lower airways.