Flying in the face of conventional wisdom

The function of centriolar satellites – cytoplasmic particles found in the vicinity of centrosomes and the base of cilia – has long been enigmatic. From studies of the component protein PCM1, satellites were thought to shuttle proteins to help build the centrosome and cilium. However, a new study from the Dammermann lab published in the Journal of Cell Biology challenges this view, proposing instead that satellites may serve a very different purpose – one tied to translation and translation-coupled protein quality control.