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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Sep 26, 2021; 13(9): 1177-1196
Published online Sep 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i9.1177
Stem cells' centrosomes: How can organelles identified 130 years ago contribute to the future of regenerative medicine?
Andreas Goutas, Varvara Trachana
Andreas Goutas, Varvara Trachana, Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larisa 41500, Biopolis, Greece
Author contributions: Goutas A collected the data; Trachana V collected the data/wrote the paper; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicting interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Varvara Trachana, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 3, Panepistimiou str, Larisa 41500, Biopolis, Greece. vtrachana@med.uth.gr
Received: March 1, 2021
Peer-review started: March 1, 2021
First decision: April 19, 2021
Revised: May 3, 2021
Accepted: August 9, 2021
Article in press: August 9, 2021
Published online: September 26, 2021
Processing time: 201 Days and 2 Hours
Abstract

At the core of regenerative medicine lies the expectation of repair or replacement of damaged tissues or whole organs. Donor scarcity and transplant rejection are major obstacles, and exactly the obstacles that stem cell‐based therapy promises to overcome. These therapies demand a comprehensive understanding of the asymmetric division of stem cells, i.e. their ability to produce cells with identical potency or differentiated cells. It is believed that with better understanding, researchers will be able to direct stem cell differentiation. Here, we describe extraordinary advances in manipulating stem cell fate that show that we need to focus on the centrosome and the centrosome-derived primary cilium. This belief comes from the fact that this organelle is the vehicle that coordinates the asymmetric division of stem cells. This is supported by studies that report the significant role of the centrosome/cilium in orchestrating signaling pathways that dictate stem cell fate. We anticipate that there is sufficient evidence to place this organelle at the center of efforts that will shape the future of regenerative medicine.

Keywords: Centrosome; Primary cilium; Asymmetry; Self-renewal; Differentiation; Stemness

Core Tip: It is believed that the major difficulties that regenerative medicine currently faces are exactly those expected to be resolved by stem cell therapies, which require a comprehensive understanding of the asymmetric division of stem cells, in order to be able to manipulate their fate. Here, we review studies that prove that the centrosome and centrosome-derived primary cilium provide an excellent vehicle for the asymmetric distribution of the determinants of cell fate. We are anticipating that the evidence is sufficient to place this organelle at the center of efforts that will shape the future of regenerative medicine.