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The actin-bundling protein Fascin-1 modulates ciliary signalling
Lena Brücker1 , Stefanie Kornelia Becker1 , Vanessa Maissl1 , Gregory Harms2 , Maddy Parsons3 , Helen Louise May-Simera1,*
1Cilia Cell Biology, Institute of Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
2Imaging Core Facility, Cell Biology Unit, University Medical Centre, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55101 Mainz, Germany
3Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King’s College London, London SE1 1UL, UK
*Correspondence to:Helen Louise May-Simera , Email:may-simera@uni-mainz.de
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 15, Issue 4, April 2023, mjad022,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjad022
Keyword: cilia, actin, Wnt, signalling, ciliopathy, Bardet–Biedl syndrome, filopodia

Primary cilia are microtubule-based cell organelles important for cellular communication. Since they are involved in the regulation of numerous signalling pathways, defects in cilia development or function are associated with genetic disorders, collectively called ciliopathies. Besides their ciliary functions, recent research has shown that several ciliary proteins are involved in the coordination of the actin cytoskeleton. Although ciliary and actin phenotypes are related, the exact nature of their interconnection remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that the protein BBS6, associated with the ciliopathy Bardet–Biedl syndrome, cooperates with the actin-bundling protein Fascin-1 in regulating filopodia and ciliary signalling. We found that loss of Bbs6 affects filopodia length potentially via attenuated interaction with Fascin-1. Conversely, loss of Fascin-1 leads to a ciliary phenotype, subsequently affecting ciliary Wnt signalling, possibly in collaboration with BBS6. Our data shed light on how ciliary proteins are involved in actin regulations and provide new insight into the involvement of the actin regulator Fascin-1 in ciliogenesis and cilia-associated signalling. Advancing our knowledge of the complex regulations between primary cilia and actin dynamics is important to understand the pathogenic consequences of ciliopathies.