Obesity has become a common
healthcare problem worldwide.
Cilia are tiny
hair-like
organelles on the
cell surface that are generated and anchored by the
basal body. Non-motile
primary cilia have been considered to be evolutionary rudiments until a few decades, but they are now considered as important signaling
organelles because many receptors, channels, and signaling molecules are highly expressed in
primary cilia. A potential
role of
primary cilia in metabolic
regulation and
body weight maintenance has been suspected based on rare
genetic disorders termed as
ciliopathy, such as
Bardet-Biedl syndrome and
Alström syndrome, which manifest as
obesity. Recent studies have demonstrated involvement of
cilia-related cellular signaling pathways in transducing metabolic information in hypothalamic
neurons and in determining cellular fate during
adipose tissue development. In this
review, we summarize the current
knowledge about
cilia and
cilia-associated signaling pathways in the
regulation of body
metabolism.