Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 8, 2025
08:32
Author Spotlight: Advancing Tendon Research by Developing Mouse Assembloids to Understand Cellular Mechanisms
Published on: March 22, 2024
1.2K
Hedgehog signaling underlying tendon and enthesis development and pathology
Fei Fang1, McKenzie Sup2, Andrew Luzzi1
1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Columbia University, Black Building, Room 1408, 650W 168 ST, New York, NY 10032-3702, United States.
Matrix Biology : Journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology
|December 26, 2021
Summary
Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is crucial for tendon enthesis development and mineralization. However, its aberrant activity can cause pathological bone formation, making its therapeutic use for tendon diseases uncertain.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Developmental Biology
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is vital for skeletal development, including endochondral ossification and growth plate maintenance.
- Recent research highlights Hh signaling's essential role in tendon enthesis development and the formation of a mineral gradient in fibrocartilage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dual role of Hh signaling in tendon and enthesis development and its therapeutic potential for related diseases.
- To clarify the distinct functions of Hh signaling in tendon and enthesis tissues.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on Hh signaling in skeletal and tendon enthesis development.
- Analysis of studies investigating the effects of Hh signaling modulation on tendon-to-bone healing and pathological ossification.
Main Results:
- Hh signaling is necessary for proper tendon enthesis development and mineralization.
- Aberrant Hh signaling can lead to pathological heterotopic ossification in tendons and osteophyte formation at the enthesis.
- Modulating Hh signaling may enhance tendon-to-bone healing but carries a risk of triggering ectopic ossification.
Conclusions:
- The precise role of Hh signaling in tendon and enthesis requires further elucidation.
- Targeting Hh signaling for tendon and enthesis diseases presents therapeutic challenges due to its dual effects.
- Future research should focus on differentiating Hh signaling functions in tendon versus enthesis to guide therapy development.
Related Concept Videos
02:33Hedgehog Signaling Pathway
7.7K
The Hedgehog gene (Hh) was first discovered due to its control of the growth of disorganized, hair-like bristles phenotype in Drosophila, much like hedgehog spines. Hh plays a crucial role in the development of organs and the maintenance of homeostasis in both invertebrates and vertebrates. However, while Drosophila has only one Hh protein, mammals have multiple functional Hedgehog proteins - Sonic (Shh), Desert (Dhh), and Indian Hedgehog (Ihh). All of these homologous proteins have adapted to...
7.7K
03:14Notch Signaling Pathway
4.5K
The Notch signaling pathway is a major intracellular signaling pathway that is highly conserved over a broad spectrum of metazoan species. It stands unique from other intracellular signaling mechanisms in animals because notch protein itself acts as the receptor as well as the primary signaling molecule.
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...
4.5K
01:12Role Of Notch Signalling In Intestinal Stem Cell Renewal
2.2K
Notch signaling was first discovered in Drosophila melanogaster, where it is involved in cell lineage differentiation. Notch signaling regulates the maintenance and differentiation of intestinal stem cells or ISCs by controlling the expression of atonal homolog 1 or Atoh1. Atoh1 directs cells to differentiate into secretory cells.
Direct cell-to-cell contact is needed for the activation of Notch signaling. The signal is initiated when a notch ligand binds to a receptor on an adjacent cell, also...
Direct cell-to-cell contact is needed for the activation of Notch signaling. The signal is initiated when a notch ligand binds to a receptor on an adjacent cell, also...
2.2K
01:22Role of Ephrin-Eph Signalling in Intestinal Stem Cell Renewal
2.3K
Erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma receptor (Eph) and its ligand, Eph receptor-interacting protein (Ephrin) were first discovered in the human carcinoma cell line, hence the name. Ephrin-Eph interaction guides cells to reach their appropriate location in adult tissues. They also play an essential role in the immune system by helping in immune cell migration, adhesion, and activation. Based on their structure and function, Eph is divided into two classes — EphA and EphB.
2.3K
02:54Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
9.2K
The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which...
9.2K