Primary cilia: Structure, dynamics, and roles in cancer cells and tumor microenvironment

• Published in: Journal of cellular physiology Vol. 238; no. 8; pp. 1788 - 1807
• Main Authors: Guan, Yi‐Ting, Zhang, Chong, Zhang, Hong‐Yong, Wei, Wen‐Lu, Yue, Wei, Zhao, Wei, Zhang, Dong‐Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Cancer; Cell death; Cell survival; Cilia; Homeostasis; immune system; Metastases; primary cilia; Sensation; Signal transduction; tumor; Tumor microenvironment; tumor microenvironment (TME); Tumors; immune system; cancer; tumor microenvironment (TME); cell death; primary cilia; tumor
• ISSN: 0021-9541; 1097-4652
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.31092

Despite the initiation of tumor arises from tumorigenic transformation signaling in cancer cells, cancer cell survival, invasion, and metastasis also require a dynamic and reciprocal association with extracellular signaling from tumor microenvironment (TME). Primary cilia are the antenna‐like structure that mediate signaling sensation and transduction in different tissues and cells. Recent studies have started to uncover that the heterogeneous ciliation in cancer cells and cells from the TME in tumor growth impels asymmetric paracellular signaling in the TME, indicating the essential functions of primary cilia in homeostasis maintenance of both cancer cells and the TME. In this review, we discussed recent advances in the structure and assembly of primary cilia, and the role of primary cilia in tumor and TME formation, as well as the therapeutic potentials that target ciliary dynamics and signaling from the cells in different tumors and the TME. Primary cilium consists of the microtubule‐based axoneme as the main and scaffold structure, enclosed by a lateral ciliary membrane. A large number of receptors involving signal transduction such as Hedgehog (HH), Wnt, and Notch exist on the ciliary membrane for signal transduction. These primary cilium‐mediated signaling pathways are critical for cell survival/death, proliferation, and differentiation, participating in the paracellular signaling transduction between the cancer cells and the cells in the TME, thus modulating the initiation, progression, therapeutic response, and clinical outcome of tumor.