In this review we discuss the emerging but not yet fully appretiated role of kinases in cilia dynamics,  particularly in relation to control of cilia assembly and dissasembly. The paper is published in Cytoskeleton (Wiley) as Phosphorylation at the Helm: Kinase-Mediated Regulation of Primary Cilia Assembly and Disassembly. (Lacigová  A and Čajánek L.)  

In this study led by David, we link together the role of Tau Tubulin Kinase 2 in regulation cilia length with the phosphorylation of kinesin KIF2A. To cut long story short, TTBK2 makes sure KIF2A stays away for the cilia to grow. Interestingy, our data also suggest that the best buddy of TTBK2, CEP164, does way more than just recruiting the kinase to the right place.   Big thanks goes to Eva and Zdenek Lansky for great contribution with TIRF experiments.   The paper is published in Cell Communication and Signaling (Springer Nature) as Tau-tubulin kinase 2 restrains microtubule-depolymerizer KIF2A to support primary cilia growth. (Benk Vysloužil D, Bernatík O, Lánská E, Renzová T, Binó L, Lacigová A, Drahošová T, Lánský Z, and Čajánek L.)  

 interview in VedaPlus show in Cesky Rozhlas (from 20:27).

Climbing again, this time on real rocks in Moravsky kras.

This year our lab retreat was a little different. We decided to be climbers for few hours in climbing area Hudy - Lezecká stěna Brno.

In this study led by Lucia Bino, we report an unexpected finding that Tau Tubulin Kinase 2 (TTBK2), considered essential for ciliogenesis in most systems, can be partially rescued by induction of expression of TTBK1 during neuronal differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. This paper represents the first evidence of the role of TTBK1 in cilia formation.   Tau tubulin kinase 1 and 2 regulate ciliogenesis and human pluripotent stem cells-derived neural rosettes (L. Binó and L. Čajánek, Scientific Reports).

In collaboration with our colleagues from Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Academy of Sciences in Prague we put together a detailed protocol for generation of primary cilia reporter cell lines using Flp-In T-REx system and/or retroviral transduction and the use of this reporter lines in live imaging applications to study cilia growth and transport dynamics.  The protocol is now available online at Star protocols (Cell press) as A protocol for generation and live-cell imaging analysis of primary cilia reporter cell lines (L. Binó, E. Mikulenková, L. Štepánek, O. Bernatík, D. Vysloužil, P. Pejšková, P. Gorilák, M. Huranová, V. Varga, and L. Čajánek).

With the recent formalization of our research group, we decided that it is also time for a new web. And new web calls for a logo.

Our Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) grant application Cilia-related Tau tubulin kinase 2 in health and disease: structure and function (1/2022 - 12/2024) was approved (info).

A study conducted in a collaboration with the group of Mark van Breugel, Queen Mary University London (info) was published in Cell Press journal Structure.  The paper Molecular mechanisms underlying the role of the centriolar CEP164-TTBK2 complex in ciliopathies (Rosa E Silva, I., Binó, L., Johnson, C. M., Rutherford, T. J., Neuhaus, D., Andreeva, A., Čajánek, L., & van Breugel, M.) describes detailed crystalographic structure of complex of TTBK2 recruited by centriolar CEP164 and how the complex formation is affected by ciliopathy mutations.