Research Keeping Cellular Structures in Shape: NEK1 Controls Centriole Length

Centrioles are small cylindrical organelles inside cells whose length must be precisely controlled to ensure centrosome integrity and the formation of primary cilia. Yet how cells restrain the growth of centriolar microtubules at their distal tips has remained incompletely understood. A new study from researchers at Heidelberg University and the DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Dundee, sheds light on this question by uncovering a new function of NEK1, a conserved protein kinase involved in DNA damage response, microtubule regulation and ciliogenesis. Using advanced imaging and molecular approaches, the study shows that NEK1 acts at the distal tips of centrioles, where it helps prevent excessive centriolar microtubule growth in parallel with the established centriolar tip regulator CP110-Cep97. In this way, NEK1 maintains the precise centriole length required for centrosome integrity and primary cilium formation. The team further proposes that NEK1-dependent defects in centriole length control and impaired ciliogenesis may be functionally linked. As mutations in NEK1 are associated with ciliopathies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, polycystic kidney disease, and cancer, the findings open new perspectives on how altered centriole architecture may contribute to human disease.