The exocyst localizes to the primary cilium in MDCK cells.

Primary cilia play a role in the maintenance of tubular epithelial differentiation and ciliary dysfunction can result in abnormal cyst formation, such as occurs in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). We previously showed that the exocyst, an eight-protein complex involved in the biogenesis of polarity from yeast to mammals, is centrally involved in cyst formation [Mol. Biol. Cell. 11 (2000) 4259]. Here we show that the exocyst complex localizes to the primary cilium in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) tubular epithelial cells. We further show that the exocyst is overexpressed in both cell lines and primary cell cultures of ADPKD origin, suggesting that the exocyst may be involved in the pathogenesis of ADPKD.