FIGURE 1.

Structure and degradation of a cilium under shear stress. (A) A cilium consists ciliary membrane, axoneme, and basal body. There is a transition zone between the ciliary membrane and cell membrane. (B) Cross section of a cilium. The axoneme has 9 + 0 or 9 + 2 microtubules. Compare with motile cilia, the non-motile cilium is short of dynein arms and radical spokes and is termed as primary cilia. (C) Disturbed shear stress triggered Ca²⁺ influx which results in endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation and NO production. (D) Primary cilia become to be shorter and ultimately degraded under laminar shear stress.