Cilia and Axonemes in Mussels

Our plain-English summary of Cilia and Axonemes in Mussels, by P.C. Adshead, K.H. Kilburn.

The study

• Authors: P.C. Adshead, K.H. Kilburn
• Published: Annals New York Academy of Sciences
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This laboratory study did not deal with asbestos. The authors studied cilia, the tiny beating hairs on the gills of the freshwater mussel Unio, and tested how they reacted to serum from people with cystic fibrosis (CF), to serum from healthy people, and to saliva from rats treated with the drug reserpine. They watched the cilia under light and electron microscopes. Cilia left in water kept beating and looked normal. Most samples of control serum from healthy people shock-stopped the cilia in 6-8 min. The cilia then started beating again in the same serum. When cilia were shock-stopped, they lost most of their internal axonemal structure, including the microtubules, although slight remains were occasionally seen. After a return to water, the cilia beat again and the structure came back. In cilia shock-stopped by CF serum, the authors saw all stages of microtubule disappearance. A second, slow-stop reaction distorted the cilia, but their internal structure stayed intact, and they did not start beating again in water. The authors concluded that ciliary microtubules may be more changeable than previously suspected. They stated that the mechanism had not been worked out.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory experiment on isolated mussel gill tissue, observed by light and electron microscopy
• Who was studied: Gill segments with terminal cilia from large freshwater mussels (Unio); serum from patients with cystic fibrosis and from healthy controls; saliva from reserpine-treated rats and untreated control rats. The number of specimens is not legible in the text.
• Exposure: No asbestos or other fibers. The gill cilia were exposed to diluted serum from cystic fibrosis patients, diluted control serum from healthy individuals, aged tap water as a control, and submaxillary saliva from rats treated with reserpine (with saliva from untreated rats as controls).
• Main results:
  • Terminal cilia on gill segments kept in water beat indefinitely as long as the water was maintained, and showed normal structure.
  • Most samples of control serum from healthy individuals shock-stopped the cilia in 6-8 min, after which the cilia quickly began beating again in the same diluted serum.
  • Shock-stopped cilia appeared straight and lacked axonemal (internal microtubule) structure. The authors describe them as partially collapsed, although they occasionally showed slight filamentous remains of an axoneme. After a return to water they resumed active beating and their structure was restored.
  • In cilia shock-stopped by CF serum, all stages of microtubule disappearance were seen in electron micrographs, and membranes appeared disrupted in cross-sections.
  • In the slow-stop reaction, the cilia appeared shorter and thicker and cells were ejected from the gill filament, but the axonemal structure was retained. Slow-stopped cilia did not resume beating in water.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that ciliary microtubules may be considerably more labile (changeable) than was previously suspected. They suggested that a rapid breakdown and replacement of microtubules may occur in freshwater mussel cilia.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that the mechanism of the rapid loss and return of ciliary structure has not been worked out.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Fibrosis.

Browse return to medical research.