Loss of primary cilia occurs early in breast cancer development.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Primary cilia are microtubule-based organelles that protrude from the cell surface. Primary cilia play a critical role in development and disease through regulation of signaling pathways including the Hedgehog pathway. Recent mouse models have also linked ciliary dysfunction to cancer. However, little is known about the role of primary cilia in breast cancer development. Primary cilia expression was characterized in cancer cells as well as their surrounding stromal cells from 86 breast cancer patients by counting cilia and measuring cilia length. In addition, we examined cilia expression in normal epithelial and stromal cells from reduction mammoplasties as well as histologically normal adjacent tissue for comparison.

Results

We observed a statistically significan

SUBMITTER: Menzl I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4076761 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature