The left-right organiser (LRO) is a transient ciliated structure that plays a key role in establishing left-right (LR) asymmetry in the vertebrate embryo. However, the mechanisms that control the formation and resorption of cilia on this structure are unclear. In this issue (p. 4068), Martina Brueckner and colleagues reveal that Nek2 regulates cilia biogenesis and resorption at the Xenopus LRO. They show that both the knockdown and the overexpression of nek2, which encodes a NIMA-like kinase, result in reduced cilia numbers and motility at the LRO and hence abnormal LR development. Nek2 is known to play a role in centriole separation and, in line with this, the authors reveal that the knockdown of nek2 results in centriole defects in the LRO. They further show that Nek2 acts upstream of the tubulin deacetylase Hdac6, and that it interacts with the nucleoporin Nup98, to control cilia resorption. Together, these findings demonstrate that Nek2 is involved in multiple stages of the cilia life cycle. Given that NEK2 has previously been implicated in abnormal laterality in humans, these findings also provide further evidence that links Nek family kinases to human ciliopathies.

© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
2015