The results are contrary to previous research which assumes that cilia solely play a 'clearance function.' They could shed light on the role cilia-which are the size of one hundredth of a single human hair-play in human respiratory system and even in the reproductive systems and the brain. The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes a framework for the role of fluid mechanics in letting symbiotic bacteria in an organism and enhancing chemical communication between the symbiont and the host organism. Kanso applied the analogy to explain her new paper, 'Motile cilia create fluid-mechanical microhabitats for the active recruitment of the host microbiome,' co-authored with researchers from the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and from Stanford, to explain the active role that cilia have in ensuring certain bacteria are kept out of an organism while other symbiotic bacteria are selectively permitted to enter. This, explains Eva Kanso, a professor of mechanical engineering at USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is what cilia do in an organism. Imagine a club scene-a bouncer at a velvet rope selects which individuals get into the club. view moreĬredit: Lab of Margaret McFall-Ngai, Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii Image: The squid's internal light organ features several different populations of cilia (green/blue) that coordinate their beating activity to recruit symbiont bacteria from the seawater and facilitate their migration to the pores (right side), where they enter the organ for life-long colonization.

Eva kanso usc