Study uncovers critical role cilia play in brain development and communication

When Dr. Jiami Guo, PhD, arrived at UCalgary six years ago, her lab was fueled by startup funding from the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute in the Cumming School of Medicine. She worked tenaciously to build her team and investigate a relatively unexplored type of brain cell – cilia. Their effort has just been published in Nature Neuroscience – her first research publication. She sat down to discuss her team’s findings.

What are cilia and what is their role in the brain?

Discovered over 100 years ago, cilia are everywhere in our body – studied in kidney disease, as well as heart and bone defects. We are just beginning to appreciate their significance in the brain. I joined this field at the right time! We have learned that cilia provide support and protection for neurons. The punchline ... they play a critical role, and act as signalling hubs for brain communication.

What did you learn in this study and why is it significant?

We believe cilia play an essential role in brain communication, in the developing brain AND the adult brain.

When cilia are not functioning well, we see autism, learning and memory problems. During the early infant stage and into childhood, cilia support neurons and are key to brain development. Cilia are critical in learning and memory – as supporting cells their job is just as important as neurons. If cilia aren’t doing their job, neurons can't do their job. All brain cells need to collaborate for the brain to function well.

For 30 years we have known about ciliopathies – rare genetic disorders with distinct and overlapping symptoms. Our research is fundamental science, so we always ask ourselves, how do these findings relate to people?

How does it feel to see this work published?

The paper is humongous – we put six years of work in. Our team is proud of the quality of this work!

When Dr. Lizheng Wang, PhD, joined my lab during COVID, our work really took off. I funded his postdoc research through my New York Stem Cell Foundation Investigator Award. I was the only researcher in Canada to receive it in 2020 and we were awarded $1.5 million US! They only give out three awards around the world each year.

The team put six years of work in and we’re proud of the quality of this work. Being published in Nature Neuroscience is an indication of the quality of the study, the data, and the potential impact.

This is my first paper – and it’s a big one.

Where do you go from here?

There's no limit … everywhere you look, you find something new about cilia. This research tells us we need to study ALL cell types, and that all are important in normal brain function.

What are you curious about now?

Now, we are exploring if cilia can help with neuroinflammation and repair – relevant to Alzheimer’s, stroke and neurodegeneration.

Is there anything else you want to share?

I'm very grateful for my colleagues Drs. Hedwich Kuipers, Grant Gordon, and Jeff Biernaskie. And especially Dr. Wang, our postdoc, who has the exact expertise and experience we needed for this project. He is so talented and hard-working, and our science just took off once he joined us. A neat side note, he named his new baby Cecilia, to celebrate our scientific work with cilia.

I'm very grateful for the collaborative and the friendly environment in Calgary.

This research was supported by The New York Stem Cell Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, a Harley Hotchkiss Samuel Weiss Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Cumming School of Medicine Postdoctoral Scholarship and an ACHRI Postdoctoral Fellowship.