Venkat Rao

Getting excited about the upcoming #centrosome conference in Lausanne!

Get your abstracts ready 👇

Loss-of-function variants in SAXO6, encoding a microtubule inner protein of photoreceptor cilia, causes a late-onset retinal dystrophy Photoreceptors are neurons in the retina that are responsible for detecting light. We identified pathogenic DNA variants in SAXO6 in individuals with progressive blindness and discovered that SAXO6 is...

📣Online now!
📄 Loss-of-function variants in SAXO6, encoding a microtubule inner protein of photoreceptor cilia, causes a late-onset retinal dystrophy
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 @abimoye.bsky.social @mquinodoz.bsky.social
@carlorivolta.bsky.social & co
🚨SAXO6 was previously known as MDM1

An inducible multiciliated cell line resolves proteome dynamics and identifies CDK7 as a conserved regulator. New study from Camille Boutin @camboutin.bsky.social, Laurent Kodjabachian @ibdm.bsky.social @univ-amu.fr and colleagues: rupress.org/jcb/article/...

#Cilia #Technology #Development

McIdas localizes to centrioles and controls centriole numbers through PLK4-dependent phosphorylation - EMBO Reports The centriole duplication cycle must be tightly controlled and coordinated with the chromosome cycle. Aberrations in centriole biogenesis can cause developmental disorders, ciliopathies and cancer, ye...

Cool new story which discovers a novel role for the multiciliogenesis-linked transcription factor McIdas (aka Multicilin) in centriole duplication.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?

Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n

Ancient intraflagellar transport machinery controls unique spatial distribution of phototropin in an evolutionary important non-flagellated vegetative stage of terrestrial alga https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.05.698958v1

Trisomy 21 alters ciliary localization of Sonic Hedgehog signaling proteins https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.06.704423v1

A protein complex in the extreme distal tip of vertebrate motile cilia controls their organization, length, and function - Nature Communications Here they combine in vivo imaging with proteomics to characterize a protein complex comprised of Ccdc78 and Ccdc33 that acts at the extreme distal tip of 9 + 2 motile cilia to control tip architecture...

Cilia alert! Stoked to have the new paper from Juyeon Hong about a new domain at the extreme distal tip of motile cilia! (The EDT, y'all!) It's out now @natcomms.nature.com.
Check it out!
#cilia

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Compound heterozygous DAW1 variants reveal tissue-specific roles in left-right patterning and congenital heart disease without primary ciliary dyskinesia https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.26344789v1

The EMBO Workshop "#Centrosomes: From fundamentals to diseases" in #Lausanne, Switzerland, 1–4 September 2026 will highlight the advances in the field of centrosome #research. Register now!

Deadline: 1 June

https://meetings.embo.org/event/26-centrosomes
#EMBOCentrosomes #EMBOevents #conference 🧪

Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University Apply for the Senior Research Associate role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Come and work with us! We're looking for a talented postdoc with interests in developmental biology, cancer and the primary cilia to join us @mortlab.bsky.social. An exciting MRC funded collaboration with Pleasantine Mill - @cilialab.bsky.social. Further details:

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPR804/s...

Excited to be sharing our work on Togaram1 mouse knockout and brain development in this e-Symposium Tuesday, January 13, 2026! 10:00 AM EST in the US = 15:00 GMT #cilia #centrosomes #devbio 🐭🧠🧪

25 years of Xenbase. www.xenbase.org/xenbase/doNe... #science #devbio #xenopus #frogs

Foxi1 regulates multipotent mucociliary progenitors and ionocyte specification through transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms The transcription factor Foxi1 regulates ionocytes across species and organs and it is associated with several human diseases, but its function in epidermis remains unclear. This study shows that low ...

Good start for 2026: Our work on mucociliary progenitors and how FOXI1 regulates them as well as ionocyte specification is now out and open access.
tinyurl.com/Bowden-Engel...
Congrats to all authors and thanks to @dfg.de @cibss.bsky.social @sfb1453.bsky.social @for5547.bsky.social for support!

Cell & Developmental Biology of Xenopus: Gene Discovery & Disease Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.

Modern Xenopus research uses this system to study #devbio, genetic diseases, biomechanics, and cell biology. If you want hands-on experience, register now to the CSHL Cell & Developmental Biology of Xenopus:
Gene Discovery & Disease
meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...
Deadline: January 16, 2026

BSCB GenSoc UK Cilia and Centrosome Network e-Symposia Series BSCB GenSoc UK Cilia and Centrosome Network e-Symposia Series

We must have been #ExtraNice this year- our #cilia & #centrosome 🧪 community- 🎅 Santa just dropped the 1st session of 2026 line-up @bscb-official.bsky.social @gensocuk.bsky.social @ukcilianetwork.bsky.social e-symposia- www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bscb-genso... See you on the other side! Happy Holidays!

Robust ciliary flows protect early Xenopus embryos from pathogens independent of multiciliated cell patterning https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.19.694354v1

Cilia2027, the 7th European Cilia Conference to be held in Italy from March 8th- 12th, 2027.

🌍 Cilia2027 | Mar 8–12, 2027 | 📍 Stresa, Lake Maggiore, Italy

Join the global cilia community for science, collaboration & discovery (+ fun!!).

#Cilia2027 #CiliaBiology

Top: lf5 mutant cells untransformed, or expressing CDKL5-GFP, CDKL5K33R-GFP, CDKL5S162A,T164A,Y166A-GFP, or CDKL5Y166F-GFP, and lf2 mutant cells expressing CDKL5-GFP were stained for flagella (acetylated tubulin, red) and CDKL5 (GFP, green top panels, gray in bottom panels). The cell bodies of all strains are green (or gray) due to autofluorescence. Wild-type CDKL5-GFP concentrates at the basal end of the flagellar shaft (arrows). Note that all of the mutant CDKL5 proteins lack the major enrichment at the basal end of the flagellum but continue to show punctate stain along the flagellar shaft. Scale bar, 5 µm. Z projection of slices taken at 0.5-µm intervals. Bottom: Larger version of the first image in the top row.

CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD) leads to seizures & intellectual disability. This study shows that #Chlamydomonas CDKL5 kinase is activated by the LF2/CDK20 kinase; CDKL5 in turn regulates #intraflagellar transport via protein abundance & phosphorylation #cilia @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/45490eP

Headshot of K. Vijayraghavan, to the left, text to the right 100 extraordinary biologists K. Vijayraghavan K. VijayRaghavan is a Development Advisory Board member and a Development and Biology Open author. He serves as a Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India and is a Distinguished Professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, India, investigating the development and function of neural circuits. #100biologists #biologists100

We are also featuring developmental biologist K. Vijayraghavan, a @dev-journal.bsky.social Advisory Board member and a Development and @biologyopen.bsky.social author, as an extraordinary biologist this week. #100biologists
@kvijayraghavan.bsky.social

C2CD3 localizes to a ring structure observed in the lumen of the distal centriole by in situ cryo-electron tomography. Top: Confocal image of an expanded mouse photoreceptor cell immunolabeled for tubulin (magenta) and C2CD3 (green). DC, daughter centriole; BB, basal body; TZ, transition zone; CC, connecting cilium. Scale bar: 500 nm. Middle: In situ cryo-tomogram slices taken along the longitudinal axis of the centriole and connecting cilium. White arrowheads indicate microtubule triplets, black arrowheads indicate microtubule doublets, orange arrowheads mark the luminal ring structure, and yellow highlights the membrane. Scale bar: 50 nm. Bottom: Model of the architecture of the distal region of the human centriole.

How does C2CD3 contribute to distal appendage formation in centrioles? @centriolelab.bsky.social show that C2CD3 acts as a central architectural organizer of the distal #centriole, bridging the luminal distal ring complex & peripheral appendage sites @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/496XZuH

Starting in a few mins.!! #Cellbio2025

I will be talking about Microtubule binding and centriole amplification

Mini symposium

Mini symposium speaker line up

Curious about what’s new in cilia/ciliated cells? Come find out at mini-symposium: Cilia Biogenesis, Structure & Function at #CellBio2025 @ASCBiology! Organised by Karl Lechtrek, Caroline Ott, Martin Engelke & @caylajewett.bsky.social — marking 25 years of cilia-in-disease discovery.

Attending #Cellbio2025?
I am presenting two posters, stop by if you are interested in epithelial dynamics.
Looking forward to all the amazing conversations and feedback!!

SPEF1 mediates assembly of the central pair microtubule complexes in cilia of Tetrahymena. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.03.689828v1

Now out from our lab in @currentbiology.bsky.social!

An mTOR-Stat3-Stathmin pathway controls #centrosome and #microtubule dynamics for #oocyte polarization

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Very excited to share the latest work from our lab in @insight.jci.org, highlighting a role for the #septin #cytoskeleton in protecting against "leaky gut", by recruiting non-muscle myosin II and stabilizing the tight junction.

Credit to @dominikrobak.bsky.social for the stunning cover image!

Last call! Applications for the @crg.eu International PhD Programme 2025 in beautiful Barcelona close next week! Join us and our inspiring colleagues at the CRG - an exceptional environment for discovery, creativity, and scientific growth.
Apply here: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...

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