Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

CELL BIOLOGY OF THE NEURON

Cilia make connections

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 23, pages 644–645 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Communication between neurons typically relies on chemical synapses between axons and dendrites. However, Sheu et al. now report the discovery of another type of neuronal synapse: one that connects an axon to an organelle known as the primary cilium. These axo-ciliary synapses are proposed to provide a shortcut through which neuronal signalling can modify gene expression.

By combining focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) with cell-type labelling in brain slices treated to preserve cellular ultrastructure, the authors could visualize mouse hippocampal neurons and their microenvironment at high resolution. This revealed the presence of specialized contacts between the primary cilia of CA1 pyramidal neurons and the axons of serotonergic neurons originating in the brainstem in the brains of both juvenile (postnatal day 14) and adult (4-month-old) mice. The connections exhibited features reminiscent of those of a traditional synapse, including a synaptic cleft and the presence of vesicles, synaptophysin (part of the synaptic vesicle release machinery) and mitochondria in the apposing axonal varicosities.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

Original article

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Reviews Neuroscience http://www.nature.com/nrn/

    Katherine Whalley

Authors
  1. Katherine Whalley
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katherine Whalley.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Whalley, K. Cilia make connections. Nat Rev Neurosci 23, 644–645 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-022-00636-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-022-00636-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing