The fluctuating position of an optically trapped cilium tip under untreated and Taxol-treated conditions was used to characterize mechanical properties of the cilium axoneme and its basal body by combining experimental, analytical, and computational tools. We provide, for the first time, evidence that the persistence length of a ciliary axoneme is length-dependent; longer cilia are stiffer than shorter cilia. We demonstrate that this apparent length dependence can be understood by a combination of modeling axonemal microtubules as anisotropic elastic shells and including actomyosin-driven stochastic basal body motion. Our results also demonstrate the possibility of using observable ciliary dynamics to probe interior cytoskeletal dynamics. It is hoped that our improved characterization of cilia will result in deeper understanding of the biological function of cellular flow sensing by this organelle.

中文翻译：

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原发纤毛具有与长度有关的持续长度。

通过结合实验，分析和计算工具，在未处理和紫杉醇处理的条件下，光学捕获的纤毛尖端的波动位置用于表征纤毛轴蛋白及其基体的机械性能。我们首次提供了证据，证明睫状轴突的持续时间是与长度有关的；较长的纤毛比较短的纤毛更硬。我们证明这种明显的长度依赖性可以通过将轴突微管建模为各向异性弹性壳并包括放线菌素驱动的随机基础身体运动来理解。我们的结果还证明了使用可观察的睫状体动力学来探测内部细胞骨架动力学的可能性。