Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Biology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cell Biology in Universities of Shandong, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China.
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. E-mail:
Zool Res. 2020 Sep 18;41(5):495-502. doi: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.109.
As a transparent avascular tissue located at the front of the eyeball, the cornea is an important barrier to external damage. Both epithelial and endothelial cells of the cornea harbor primary cilia, which sense changes in the external environment and regulate intracellular signaling pathways. Accumulating evidence suggests that the primary cilium regulates corneal development in several ways, including participation in corneal epithelial stratification and maintenance of corneal endothelial cell morphology. In addition, the primary cilium has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several corneal diseases. In this review, we discuss recent findings that demonstrate the critical role of the primary cilium in corneal development. We also discuss the link between ciliary dysfunction and corneal diseases, which suggests that the primary cilium could be targeted to treat these diseases.
角膜是一种位于眼球前部的透明无血管组织，是抵御外界损伤的重要屏障。角膜的上皮细胞和内皮细胞都含有初级纤毛，它们可以感知外界环境的变化，并调节细胞内的信号通路。越来越多的证据表明，初级纤毛通过多种方式调节角膜发育，包括参与角膜上皮分层和维持角膜内皮细胞形态。此外，初级纤毛还与几种角膜疾病的发病机制有关。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了最近的发现，这些发现表明初级纤毛在角膜发育中起着关键作用。我们还讨论了纤毛功能障碍与角膜疾病之间的联系，这表明初级纤毛可能成为治疗这些疾病的靶点。
