Anna Kazatskaya, Stefanie Kuhns, Nils J Lambacher, Julie E Kennedy, Andrea G Brear, Gavin J McManus, Piali Sengupta, Oliver E Blacque

Motile and immotile (or primary) cilia are microtubule-based structures that mediate multiple cellular functions including transduction of environmental cues, developmental signaling, cellular motility, and modulation of fluid flow. Although their core architectures are similar, motile and primary cilia exhibit marked structural differences that underlie distinct functional properties. However, the extent to which ciliogenesis mechanisms are shared between these different cilia types is not fully described. Here we report that the atypical MAP kinase MAPK15 (ERK7/8), implicated in the formation of vertebrate motile cilia, also regulates the formation of primary cilia in C. elegans sensory neurons and human cells. We find that MAPK15 localizes to a basal body subdomain with the ciliopathy protein BBS7 and cell-cell junctions. MAPK15 also regulates the localization of ciliary proteins involved in cilium structure, transport, and signaling. Our results describe a primary cilia-related role for this poorly studied member of the MAPK family in vivo, and indicate a broad requirement for MAPK15 in the formation of multiple ciliary classes across species.