Development of order during ciliogenesis

Abstract

Abstract This report consists of an electron microscope study of developing cilia in nasal epithelium of 15–18 day mouse embryos. As soon as recognizable cilia were observed, the typical 9 + 2 pattern of ciliary microtubule pairs was present. However, at this stage the intracellular spatial alignment of adjacent cilia, reflected in the adult by directionally oriented central microtubules, was not observed. In the same stage, differentiated basal feet were randomly arranged on adjacent basal bodies within the same cell. The significance of these findings lies in the observation that the structures differentiate at random prior to and independent of the forces that orient them in a coordinated spatial and temporal relationship.