Sonic Hedgehog signalling in the developing and adult brain

Dorota Charytoniuk¹, Betina Porcel, José Rodríguez Gomez

¹Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

|January 5, 2002

Summary

Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling is crucial for embryonic development and also plays roles in the postnatal and adult brain. Modified Shh peptides enhance neuroblast proliferation, suggesting new therapeutic potential.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Molecular Biology

Background:

Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is a secreted polypeptide family vital for embryonic development.
Shh signaling involves Patched (Ptc) and Smoothened (Smo) receptors, activating Gli transcription factors.
Shh exhibits inductive, proliferative, neurotrophic, and neuroprotective effects on neural cells.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the distribution of Shh signaling genes in embryonic and adult rat brains.
To explore the pharmacological properties of Shh peptides.
To elucidate the roles of Shh signaling beyond early embryonic development.

Main Methods:

Gene distribution analysis in rat embryos and adults.
In vitro cell culture of rat cerebellar granule cell neuroblasts.
[3H]thymidine incorporation assays to measure cell proliferation.
Analysis of Patched (Ptc) protein's sterol sensing domain.

Main Results:

Shh, Ptc, and Smo distribution aligns with the functional model in the ventral neural tube.
Myristoylated ShhN (myrShhN) significantly enhances neuroblast proliferation compared to ShhN.
Ptc and Smo transcripts colocalize in specific adult brain areas, but Ptc can be expressed without Smo.

Conclusions:

Shh signaling pathways are active in the postnatal and adult brain, with potential roles beyond embryonic development.
Amino-terminal lipid modification is critical for ShhN's biological activity.
Shh may signal through Ptc/Smo complexes or Ptc alone in the adult brain.

Related Experiment Videos

Sonic Hedgehog signalling in the developing and adult brain

Related Concept Videos

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are differently associated with treatment modalities, household income, and diabetes-related events in children with type 1 diabetes, their mothers, and their fathers: a French nationwide survey.

Smoothened-mediated signaling contributes to immune and non-immune functions of microglia.

Effects of occupational therapy on quality of life, occupational performance, and occupational satisfaction in older adults with cancer: a multicentre, pragmatic, randomized, controlled trial protocol (OCEAN-OT).

Revisiting the role of sexual hormones in the demyelinated central nervous system.

Sonic Hedgehog Is an Early Oligodendrocyte Marker During Remyelination.

The Smoothened agonist SAG Modulates the Male and Female Peripheral Immune Systems Differently in an Immune Model of Central Nervous System Demyelination.

Suicide attempts in children and adolescents: The place of clock genes and early rhythm dysfunction.

Dyssynchrony and perinatal psychopathology impact of child disease on parents-child interactions, the paradigm of Prader Willi syndrom.

Key considerations in designing a speech brain-computer interface.

Links between early child maltreatment, mental disorders, and cortisol secretion anomalies.

Creating a 'social zeitgeber' to synchronize family emotional rhythms: A new therapeutic approach in child and adolescent psychiatry.

A developmental and clinical perspective of rhythmic interpersonal coordination: From mimicry toward the interconnection of minds.

Multisensory suppressive neurons can implement Bayesian-like nonlinearly weighted sensory combination.

Observed changes in clinical proxy measures of airway protection after cervical epidural spinal cord stimulation in neurological disorders: a preliminary retrospective case series.

Longitudinal prospective study of Sturge-Weber syndrome urine angiogenic factors and neurological outcome.

Ligand-based pharmacophore modeling for the discovery of NaV1.7 inhibitors.

Hyperhomocysteinemia in sudden sensorineural hearing loss: Evidence from a prospective clinical study.

A TALE OF TWO TAILS: PREFERRED AND ANTI-PREFERRED NATURAL STIMULI IN VISUAL CORTEX.

Related Experiment Videos

Sonic Hedgehog signalling in the developing and adult brain

Area of Science:

Background:

Purpose of the Study:

Main Methods:

Main Results:

Conclusions:

Related Concept Videos

Related Articles