title: The primary cilium as the cell's antenna: signaling at a sensory organelle.
abstract: Almost every vertebrate cell has a specialized cell surface projection called a primary cilium. Although these structures were first described more than a century ago, the full scope of their functions remains poorly understood. Here, we review emerging evidence that in addition to their well-established roles in sight, smell, and mechanosensation, primary cilia are key participants in intercellular signaling. This new appreciation of primary cilia as cellular antennae that sense a wide variety of signals could help explain why ciliary defects underlie such a wide range of human disorders, including retinal degeneration, polycystic kidney disease, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and neural tube defects.
authors.affiliation: Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, and Diabetes Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0525, USA.
authors.forename: Veena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Singla
authors.forename: Jeremy F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Reiter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020788:Bardet-Biedl Syndrome / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016764:Cell Polarity; D002923:Cilia / Q000502:physiology*; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D006801:Humans; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007690:Polycystic Kidney Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051153:Wnt Proteins