Abstract

Background: The airway cilia of patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) exhibit several anomalies when studied by transmission electron microscopy, but little is known about the ultrastructural organisation of ciliary membranes in these patients. Freeze fracture replication of airway epithelium from patients with PCD provides a means of achieving high resolution views of cell membrane structure. Ciliary necklaces are a specialised structural feature of ciliary membranes thought to serve as a timing mechanism for ciliary beat, and their characterisation in the cilia of patients with PCD may contribute new insights into the pathophysiology of this syndrome.

Methods: The nasal epithelium of three patients with PCD was freeze fractured and replicated with platinum and carbon shadowing. The resultant preparations were examined by transmission electron microscopy and the ciliary necklaces were compared with similar preparations of nasal biopsy specimens from normal healthy subjects.

Results: The ciliary necklaces of the three patients with PCD were normal with no overt differences from those of healthy individuals.

Conclusions: The defective ciliary motility observed in patients with PCD does not appear to result from membrane dysfunction associated with overt disorganisation of ciliary necklace structure.