STIL/AURKA axis promotes cell proliferation by influencing primary cilia formation in bladder cancer

BACKGROUND: The primary cilia (PC) is a microtubule-based and nonmotile organelle which protrudes from the surface of almost all mammalian cells. At present, PC has been found to be a deficiency or loss in multiple cancers. Restoring PC could be a novel targeting therapy strategy. Our research showed that PC was reduced in human bladder cancer (BLCA) cells, and PC deficiency promotes cell proliferation. However, the concrete mechanisms remain unknown. SCL/TAL1 interrupting locus (STIL), a PC-related protein, was screened in our previous study and could influence the cell cycle by regulating PC in tumor cells. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the function of STIL for PC to explore the underlying mechanism of PC in BLCA. METHODS: Public database analysis, western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to screen genes and explore gene expression alteration. Immunofluorescence and western blot were utilized to investigate PC. Wound healing assay, clone formation assay, and CCK-8 assay were used to explore cell migration, growth, and proliferation. The co-immunoprecipitation and western blot were employed to reveal the interaction of STIL and AURKA. RESULTS: We found that high STIL expression is correlated with poor outcomes of BLCA patients. Further analysis revealed that STIL overexpression could inhibit PC formation, activate SHH signaling pathways, and promote cell proliferation. In contrast, STIL-knockdown could promote PC formation, inactivate SHH signaling, and inhibit cell proliferation. Furthermore, we found that the regulatory functions of STIL for PC depend on AURKA. STIL could influence proteasome activity and maintain AURKA stabilization. AURKA-knockdown could reverse PC deficiency caused by STIL overexpression for PC in BLCA cells. We observed that co-knockdown in STIL and AURKA significantly enhanced PC assembly. CONCLUSION: In summary, our result provides a potential therapy target for BLCA based on the restoration of PC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-023-04118-2.