Primary cilia, hair-like organelles projecting from the surface of cells, are critical for sensing extracellular stimuli and transmitting molecular signals that regulate cell functions. During bone development, cell cilia are found in several types of cells, but their roles require further investigation. Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is essential for the formation and maintenance of most eukaryotic cilia. IFT140 is a core protein of the IFT-A complex. Mutations in IFT140 have been associated with cases of skeletal ciliopathies. In this study, we examined the expression of IFT140 during bone development. The results showed that, compared with many soft tissues, Ift140 (mRNA level) was highly expressed in bone. Moreover, its expression level was downregulated in the long bones of murine osteoporosis models. At the histological level, IFT140 was characteristically expressed in osteoblasts and chondrocytes at representative stages of bone development, and its expression level in these two types of cells was observed in two waves. These findings suggest that IFT140 may play an important role in the process of chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation during bone development.
Keywords: IFT; chondrocyte; cilia; differentiation; endochondral ossification; osteoblast; skeletal development.