Energy homeostasis in our body system is maintained by balancing the intake and expenditure of energy. Excessive accumulation of fat by disrupting the balance system causes
overweight and
obesity, which are increasingly becoming global health concerns. Understanding the pathogenesis of
obesity focused on studying the genes related to familial types of
obesity. Recently, a rare human
genetic disorder,
ciliopathy, links the role for genes regulating structure and function of a cellular organelle, the primary cilium, to metabolic disorder,
obesity and type II diabetes. Primary cilia are microtubule based hair-like membranous structures, lacking motility and functions such as sensing the environmental cues, and transducing extracellular signals within the cells. Interestingly, the subclass of
ciliopathies, such as Bardet-Biedle and
Alström syndrome, manifest
obesity and type II diabetes in human and mouse model systems. Moreover, studies on genetic mouse model system indicate that more ciliary genes affect energy homeostasis through multiple regulatory steps such as central and peripheral actions of
leptin and
insulin. In this review, we discuss the latest findings in primary cilia and metabolic disorders, and propose the possible interaction between primary cilia and the
leptin and
insulin signal pathways which might enhance our understanding of the unambiguous link of a cell's antenna to
obesity and type II diabetes.