A central finding in our understanding of the biology of the primary cilium has been the discovery by Rosembaum’s laboratory of a new multimolecular machinery, namely the intraflagellar transport (IFT) system, that is responsible for protein trafficking from the cell body to the flagellar tip during ciliogenesis. Starting from its discovery in 1993 in the green alga Clamydomonas reinhardtii, the IFT system has been extensively studied for many years to characterize the composition and function of the IFT particles in various organisms. IFT particles have been shown to comprise two complexes, namely IFT-A and IFT–B, which move as linear arrays along the axonemal doublet microtubules transporting specific cargos in the retrograde and anterograde direction, respectively, through their interaction with molecular motors. The aim of this Research Topic is to provide an overall perspective and new insights into the IFT system. We welcome authors to submit manuscripts regarding IFT particle assembly, the structure of IFT complexes, IFT interactors and IFT activities. In particular, this collection will focus not only on the role of IFT proteins during ciliogenesis but also on the contribution of the IFT system to events that are not related to cilium assembly or occur in cells lacking a primary cilium, such as immune cells. Indeed, accumulating evidence indicates that the IFT system is exploited by the cell to regulate processes as diverse as ciliary signalling pathways, immune synapse assembly, endocytic and exocytic vesicular traffic, extracellular vesicle release, cytokinesis and autophagy. In addition, potential topics of this collection include the characterization of IFT defects that may cause disease, as reported for ciliopathies associated with IFT deficiency such as polycystic kidney disease and retinal degenerative disease. In this Research Topic, we aim to collect original research articles as well as review articles devoted to unveiling new important aspects regarding IFT biology, provide a comprehensive overview of the field and inspire future research.
A central finding in our understanding of the biology of the primary cilium has been the discovery by Rosembaum’s laboratory of a new multimolecular machinery, namely the intraflagellar transport (IFT) system, that is responsible for protein trafficking from the cell body to the flagellar tip during ciliogenesis. Starting from its discovery in 1993 in the green alga Clamydomonas reinhardtii, the IFT system has been extensively studied for many years to characterize the composition and function of the IFT particles in various organisms. IFT particles have been shown to comprise two complexes, namely IFT-A and IFT–B, which move as linear arrays along the axonemal doublet microtubules transporting specific cargos in the retrograde and anterograde direction, respectively, through their interaction with molecular motors. The aim of this Research Topic is to provide an overall perspective and new insights into the IFT system. We welcome authors to submit manuscripts regarding IFT particle assembly, the structure of IFT complexes, IFT interactors and IFT activities. In particular, this collection will focus not only on the role of IFT proteins during ciliogenesis but also on the contribution of the IFT system to events that are not related to cilium assembly or occur in cells lacking a primary cilium, such as immune cells. Indeed, accumulating evidence indicates that the IFT system is exploited by the cell to regulate processes as diverse as ciliary signalling pathways, immune synapse assembly, endocytic and exocytic vesicular traffic, extracellular vesicle release, cytokinesis and autophagy. In addition, potential topics of this collection include the characterization of IFT defects that may cause disease, as reported for ciliopathies associated with IFT deficiency such as polycystic kidney disease and retinal degenerative disease. In this Research Topic, we aim to collect original research articles as well as review articles devoted to unveiling new important aspects regarding IFT biology, provide a comprehensive overview of the field and inspire future research.