Type I collagen promotes primary cilia growth through down-regulating HDAC6-mediated autophagy in confluent mouse embryo fibroblast 3T3-L1 cells.

Primary cilia are microtubule-based organelles that extend from nearly all vertebrate cells. Abnormal ciliogenesis and cilia length are suggested to be associated with hypertension and obesity as well as diseases such as Meckel-Gruber syndrome. Extracellular matrix (ECM), comprising cellular microenvironment, influences cell shape and proliferation. However, influence of ECM on cilia biogenesis has not been well studied. In this study we examined the effects of type I collagen (col I), the major component of ECM, on primary cilia growth. When cultured on collagen-coated dishes, confluent 3T3-L1 cells were found to exhibit fibroblast-like morphology, which was different from the cobblestone-like shape on non-coated dishes. The level of autophagy in the cells cultured on col I-coated dishes was attenuated compared with the cells cultured on non-coated dishes. The cilia of the cells cultured on col I-coated dishes became longer, accompanying increased expression of essential proteins for cilia assembly. Transfection of the siRNA targeting microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) further enhanced the length of primary cilia, suggesting that col I positively regulated cilia growth through inhibition of autophagy. Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), which was suggested as a mediator of autophagy in our previous study on primary cilia, was down-regulated with col I. 3T3-L1 cells treated with the siRNA against HDAC6 reduced the autophagy level and enhanced collagen-induced cilia elongation, implying that HDAC6 was involved in mediating autophagy. In conclusion, col I promotes cilia growth through repressing the HDAC-autophagy pathway that can be involved in the interaction between primary cilia and col I.