Table 1.

Major contributions to the cilia literature

Author(s) (reference)	Year	Discovery/contribution/advancement
von Leeuwenhoek [21]	1677	First described most likely ciliate protozoa, “with thin little feet, or little legs, which moved very nimbly…”
Muller [94]	1786	Introduced the term “cilium,” meaning hair or eyelash, for cells with multiple cilia
Purkinje and Valentin [95]	1834	First described ciliary motility in mammalian cells
DuJardin [96]	1841	Introduced the term “flagellum,” meaning whip, for cells with a single cilium
Ecker [97]	1844	Noted single cilium on the epithelium of the semicircular ear canals in sea lamprey
Kolliker [98]	1854	Noted that cilia on epithelium can occur “singly on a cell”
Kowalevsky [23]	1867	Noted single cilium on cells during gastrulation of Amphioxus
Flemming and van Beneden [99, 100]	1875/76	Discovered the centrosome (aka centriole, basal body)
Langerhans [24]	1876	Described numerous examples of single cilium on epithelium in Amphioxus and that these cilia were not associated with motility
Zimmermann [25]	1898	Discovered that central flagella (primary cilia) are defined, and distinguished from cilia, by a pair of centrioles. In addition, he predicted that primary cilia may act as a “sensory organ” for these cells
Henneguy and Lenhossek [101–103]	1898	Proposed the Henneguy–Lenhossek hypothesis that centrosomes are basal bodies, which play a key role in the formation of primary cilia
Alverdes [104]	1927	Proposed that primary cilium “may represent a cellular receptor, which communicates fluctuations…”
Sjostrand [105]	1953	First transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a mature photoreceptor connecting epithelium (a sensory cilium)
de Harven and Bernhard [106]	1956	First TEM of a primary cilium
de Harven and Bernhard [107]	1960	First to describe the role of microtubules in primary cilium
Barnes [108]	1961	Proposed requirements for definition of primary cilia: (1) Lack of motility, (2) 9 + 0 microtubule arrangement, and (3) association with pair of centrioles
Wilson and McWhorter [109]	1963	Proposed that primary cilia on epidermal cell “might conceivably play a part in the initiation of mitosis”
Sorokin [26]	1968	Proposed the modern term “primary cilia” and described the difference in formation of primary cilia as distinct from motile cilia
Archer and Wheatley [110]	1971	First to demonstrate experimentally that primary cilia completely disappear during mitosis
Afzelius [111]	1976	Discovered the connection between Kartagener’s syndrome and motile cilia with a defect in the dynein arms
Kozminski [27]	1993	Discovered intraflagellar transport in Chlamydomonas
Pazour [28]	2000	Demonstrated that the ORPK (Oak Ridge polycystic kidney disease) mouse had an underlying primary cilia defect
Lehman [112]	2009	Described role of primary cilium in hair follicles
Wong [60]	2009	Described role of primary cilia in BCC
Ezratty [113]	2011	Described role of primary cilia in skin development
Kim [14]	2011	Described role of primary cilia in melanoma