5. 6. 2024, start: 16:00

"Primary Cilia in Health and Disease”

Martina Huranová, Ph.D., Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity/Cilia team, Institute of Molecular Genetics

Do you wonder how our brain controls food intake and how it happens that our heart is on left side? Did you know that almost each cell in our body has a small membraneous sensory organelle – cilium? Cilia are exposed to the extracellular mileau and enable the intra- and inter-cellular communication within tissues. Even, the photoreceptors in our eyes are cells with weird comb-like cilia! We also need cilia to move the egg and sperm to reproduce!

In our team, we investigate the physiological roles of cilia and etiopathological mechanisms associated with the ciliopathies, pleiotropic syndromes caused by cilia dysfunction. We study the cilia dynamics and turnover of the ciliary receptors involved in the developmental signaling pathways and strive to identify potential therapeutic avenues for the treatment of these disorders.