Expression of Primary Cilia on Liver Stem and Progenitor Cells: Potential Role for Mechanosensing in Liver Development

The primary cilium is a non-motile organelle that projects out from the plasma membrane of many cell types in the body. It consists of an axoneme with microtubules arranged in a 9+0 arrangement that extends from the mother centriole contained within the basal body. Once thought to be a non-essential organelle, it is now known that primary cilia have an important role in embryonic and post-natal development, as well as maintenance of adult tissues. Mutations affecting primary ciliary development result in a class of serious diseases known as ciliopathies [1, 2]. Recent research suggests that the primary cilia/ centrosomes might play a role in embryonic stem cell differentiation through cell cycle regulation and their association with the Hedgehog signaling pathway [3, 4].