[Paramecium, a model organism to study ciliogenesis and ciliopathies].

Bouhouche, Khaled; Le Borgne, Pierrick; Lemullois, Michel; Tassin, Anne-Marie

The cilium is a cell extension forming a distinct compartment of eukaryotic cell body with a complex and dynamic structure. This structure is highly conserved across species and ensures various functions as sensory and motility. In humans, ciliary dysfunction results in diseases (ciliopathies) that can affect all organs. Thanks to its complex ciliary structure, the unicellular and ciliated microorganism, Paramecium, constitutes a model of choice not only to study the structure, assembly and function of cilia but also to validate the specific role of mutations of genes linked to the ciliopathies.