I am excited to share our most recent work looking at the ciliary base of mammalian multiciliated cells w/ cryo-ET, XL/MS, and U-ExM. Using subtomogram averaging and classification, we mapped out structural changes along the microtubules of the ciliary base, highlighting densities specific to each region. To supplement our cryo-ET, we built a mammalian multiciliated cell interactome using XL/MS. While XL/MS provided several candidates for microtubule binding proteins, the subciliary localization was further verified by U-ExM. Using this powerful combo of tools we further observed other features of the ciliary base including the ciliary necklace aligned with the transition zone, IFT trains present at mature cilia and undocked centrioles near ciliary vesicles, and a cytoskeleton network of bundled actin and intermediate filaments.
