# A Novel Cell-Cell Communication Structure: Tanycyte and Cilia Hypothalamic Unifying Glia-cilia Structure (HUGS)

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new structure called HUGS that connects cilia and tanycytes in the brain, which may be important for cell communication and is disrupted in a mouse model of ciliopathy.

## Contribution

The discovery of HUGS, a novel cell-cell communication structure involving cilia and tanycytes in the hypothalamus.

## Key findings

- HUGS are physical contacts between primary cilia and tanycytes in the hypothalamus.
- Disruption of HUGS occurs in a mouse model of ciliopathy (Bbs4), leading to hypothalamic dysfunction.

## Abstract

Primary cilia, microtubule-based sensory organelles that mediate cell–cell communication, may facilitate signaling in the brain through direct physical contacts (e.g., synapse-like structures). Similarly, specialized glial cells lining the third ventricle (3V) called tanycytes signal through physical interactions and can dynamically alter their morphology in response to external stimuli and physiological changes. Here, we identify robust cilia-tanycyte contacts; we term HUGS (
H
ypothalamic,
U
nifying
G
lia-cilia
S
tructures) and discover that these connections are disrupted in a mouse ciliopathy model (
Bbs4
) exhibiting hypothalamic dysfunction. These data provide insight into potentially new cell-cell signaling mechanisms deployed by neuronal cilia.