miR-200 represses primary ciliogenesis by direct repression of DZIP1

Defining features of EMT include cytoskeletal remodelling, altered cell-surface protein expression that reconfigures cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, and the promotion of primary cilia; specialized membrane protrusions that concentrate receptors and signal transduction proteins to function as antennae for extracellular cues.

Such cilia promote stemness and chemoresistance, however the mechanism underlying their upregulation has remained unclear. Here, we identify a previously unrecognised role for miR-200c in controlling ciliogenesis through direct repression of DZIP1, a conserved ciliogenesis assembly factor. miR-200c-mediated repression of DZIP1 is necessary and sufficient to inhibit cilia formation, as DZIP1 knockdown phenocopies miR-200 in reducing ciliation, while DZIP1 re-expression rescues cilia loss.