biology

IFT140

IFT140 is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand IFT140 rather than just read about it. In short: IFT140, Intraflagellar transport 140 homolog, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IFT140 gene. The gene product forms a core component of IFT-A complex which is indipensible for retrograde intraflagellar transport within the primary cilium.

Key takeaways

IFT140 belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect IFT140 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of IFT140 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

IFT140, Intraflagellar transport 140 homolog, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IFT140 gene. The gene product forms a core component of IFT-A complex which is indipensible for retrograde intraflagellar transport within the primary cilium.

Clinical significance Mutations in this gene have been associated to cases of skeletal ciliopathy called Mainzer Saldino Syndrome, characterised by skeletal developmental anomalies, retinal degeneration and a fibrocystic renal disease known as nephronophthisis. It has also been described in patients with Jeune Syndrome and isolated Lebers congenital amaurosis in the absence of other syndromic features.

Model organisms An ENU derived mouse (cauli) carrying homozygous IFT140 alleles (c.2564T>A, p. I855K) was generated at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. The cauli mouse presented with mid-gestational lethality, exencephaly, spina bifida, craniofacial dysmorphism, digital anomalies, cardiac anomalies and somite patterning defects. Ectopic hedgehog signalling was demonstrated by wholemount in situ hybridisation in the limb buds and abnormal morphology of the primary cilium within the limb bud was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy. A patient with Mainzer Saldino Syndrome carrying compound heterozygous variants in IFT140 had induced pluripotent stem cells reprogrammed and CRISPR gene corrected before differentiating both stem cell lines into kidney organoids for transcriptional comparison. Aside from validating the club shaped morphology of the primary cilia seen in the cauli mouse limb bud within the regenerated nephron tubules of the IFT140c.634G>A/c.2176C>G organoids compared to the IFT140WT/c.2176C>G, bulk RNA sequencing comparison demonstrated significant differences in gene pathways related to apicobasal polarity, cell-cell junctions and axonemal dynein assembly.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with IFT140

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what IFT140 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to IFT140 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about IFT140 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of IFT140

In research: IFT140 appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses IFT140 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: IFT140 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Genes on human chromosome 16, Protein stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for IFT140 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study IFT140 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what IFT140 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain IFT140 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is IFT140 in simple terms?

Why does IFT140 matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study IFT140?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on IFT140.