Kif7 is a ciliary kinesin motor protein that regulates mammalian Hedgehog pathway activation through influencing structure of the primary cilium. Here we show that Kif7 is required for normal T-cell development, despite the fact that T-cells lack primary cilia. Analysis of Kif7-deficient thymus showed that Kif7-deficiency increases the early CD44+CD25+CD4-CD8- thymocyte progenitor population bu...

Epithelial organs such as the vertebrate hair undergo programmed self-renewal in part by controlling the growth of progenitor cells. The hedgehog signaling pathway regulates progenitor growth in a variety of tissues. This chapter discusses evidence for how the skin regulates the production of Shh ligand, the reception of the Shh signal, and maintenance of the signal to promote hair morphogenesi...

Exit from multipotency and lineage commitment of mesenchymal stroma cells (MSC) depends on microenvironmental cues the stem-cell niche but steering cell fate into desired in vivo remains a challenge. Increasing evidence suggests that glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) can be used to activate or sequester growth factors with specific action depending sulfation levels. It is postulated differentially sulf...

Smoothened, a heptahelical membrane protein, functions as the transducer of Hedgehog signaling. The kinases that modulate Smoothened have been thoroughly analyzed in flies. However, little is known about how phosphorylation affects Smoothened in vertebrates, mainly, because the residues, where Smoothened is phosphorylated are not conserved from Drosophila to vertebrates. Given its molecular arc...

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is a member of the hedgehog family of signalling molecules. SHH was initially described as a protein secreted from two signalling centres, the notochord and the floor plate. Subsequently, it was identified as a morphogen that is directly responsible for dorso-ventral patterning of the CNS. More recently, additional sites of SHH expression have been identified and multiple a...