Failure to reabsorb the primary cilium induces cellular senescence

Aurora kinase A (AURKA) is necessary for proper primary cilium disassembly before mitosis. We found that depletion of caveolin-1 expression promotes primary cilia formation through the proteasomal-dependent degradation of aurora kinase A and induces premature senescence in human fibroblasts. Down-regulation of intraflagellar transport-88, a protein essential for ciliogenesis, inhibits premature senescence induced by the depletion of caveolin-1. In support of these findings, we showed that alisertib, a pharmacological inhibitor of AURKA, causes primary cilia formation and cellular senescence by irreversibly arresting cell growth. Suppression of primary cilia formation limits cellular senescence induced by alisertib. The primary cilium must be disassembled to free its centriole to form the centrosome, a necessary structure for mitotic spindle assembly and cell division. We showed that the use of the centriole to form primary cilia blocks centrosome formation and mitotic spindle assembly and prevents the completion of mitosis in cells in which cellular senescence is caused by the inhibition of AURKA. We also found that AURKA is down-regulated and primary cilia formation is enhanced when cellular senescence is promoted by other senescence-inducing stimuli, such as oxidative stress and UV light. Thus, we propose that impaired AURKA function induces premature senescence by preventing reabsorption of the primary cilium, which inhibits centrosome and mitotic spindle formation and consequently prevents the completion of mitosis. Our study causally links the inability of the cell to disassemble the primary cilium, a microtubule-based cellular organelle, to the development of premature senescence, a functionally and pathologically relevant cellular state.