Banterle, NiccoloNievergelt, Adrian P.de Buhr, SvenjaHatzopoulos, Georgios N.Brillard, CharleneAndany, SantiagoHuebscher, TaniaSorgenfrei, Frieda A.Schwarz, Ulrich S.Graeter, FraukeFantner, Georg E.Goenczy, Pierre2021-12-042021-12-042021-12-042021-10-2610.1038/s41467-021-26329-1https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/183643WOS:000711796100021Discovering mechanisms governing organelle assembly is a fundamental pursuit in biology. The centriole is an evolutionarily conserved organelle with a signature 9-fold symmetrical chiral arrangement of microtubules imparted onto the cilium it templates. The first structure in nascent centrioles is a cartwheel, which comprises stacked 9-fold symmetrical SAS-6 ring polymers emerging orthogonal to a surface surrounding each resident centriole. The mechanisms through which SAS-6 polymerization ensures centriole organelle architecture remain elusive. We deploy photothermally-actuated off-resonance tapping high-speed atomic force microscopy to decipher surface SAS-6 self-assembly mechanisms. We show that the surface shifts the reaction equilibrium by similar to 10(4) compared to solution. Moreover, coarse-grained molecular dynamics and atomic force microscopy reveal that the surface converts the inherent helical propensity of SAS-6 polymers into 9-fold rings with residual asymmetry, which may guide ring stacking and impart chiral features to centrioles and cilia. Overall, our work reveals fundamental design principles governing centriole assembly.Multidisciplinary SciencesScience & Technology - Other Topicsduplicationcentrosomesdynamicsrevealsfragmentationorganizationcoagulationciliafieldtext::journal::journal article::research article