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Two Faces of Evil: Cancer and Neurodegeneration pp 73–82Cite as

Primary Cilia as Switches in Brain Development and Cancer

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Part of the book series: Research and Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease ((ALZHEIMER))

Abstract

The primary cilium plays key roles in regulating the cell cycle. This specialized organelle grows from the basal body, a modified centriole that during mitosis functions as part of the centrosome organizing the mitotic spindle. The primary cilium is essential for neural stem cell specification and neural progenitor expansion. Growing evidence indicates that several brain tumors arise from progenitor or stem cells. Recent work has demonstrated that the primary cilium is a sensory organelle that concentrates receptors and second messenger components for the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. Several types of cancers show oncogenic activation of Hh signaling, yet the role for primary cilia in cancer has only recently been addressed. Interestingly, the primary cilium appears to have dual and opposing roles in cancer; depending on the underlying oncogenic event, primary cilia can either promote or prevent tumor formation. Here, we suggest that primary cilia function as ON or OFF switches to regulate cell proliferation and as such could have important implications in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

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Acknowledgments

Y.-G. H. was, in part, supported by Mark Linder/American Brain Tumor Association Fellowship. The work was supported by grants from the US National Institute of Health (NS28478 and HD32116) and a grant from the Goldhirsh foundation to A. A-B. We thank R. Ihrie for comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological Surgery, The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Arturo Alvarez-Buylla

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  1. Young-Goo Han
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  2. Arturo Alvarez-Buylla
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Correspondence to Arturo Alvarez-Buylla .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Pathology and Laboratory M, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Civic Center Boulevard 3501, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Thomas Curran

  2. Fondation IPSEN, Quai Georges Gorse 65, Boulogne-Billancourt Cedex, 92650, France

    Yves Christen

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Han, YG., Alvarez-Buylla, A. (2011). Primary Cilia as Switches in Brain Development and Cancer. In: Curran, T., Christen, Y. (eds) Two Faces of Evil: Cancer and Neurodegeneration. Research and Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16602-0_6

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