IL-6 and sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling molecules are considered to maintain the growth of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Resveratrol, an important integrant in traditional Chinese medicine, possesses certain antitumor effects. However, the mechanisms on regulating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are unclear. This study first used human subjects to demonstrate that the plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-1 β ...

Truncating mutations in Gli3, an intracellular effector in the SHH-SMO-GLI signaling pathway, cause renal aplasia/dysplasia in humans and mice. Yet, the pathogenic mechanisms are undefined. Here, we report the effect of decreased SHH-SMO signaling on renal morphogenesis, the expression of SHH target genes and GLI binding to Shh target genes. Shh deficiency or cyclopamine-mediated SMO inhibition...

The Sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway plays an integral role in cellular proliferation during normal brain development and also drives growth in a variety of cancers including brain cancer. Clinical trials of Shh pathway inhibitors for brain tumors have yielded disappointing results, indicating a more nuanced role for Shh signaling. We postulate that Shh signaling does not work alone but requires co...

To examine the role of development in the origin of evolutionary novelties, we investigated the developmental mechanisms involved in the formation of a complex morphological novelty-branched feathers. We demonstrate that the anterior-posterior expression polarity of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) in the primordia of feathers, avian scales, and alligator scales is c...

This study addresses the role of sonic hedgehog (shh) in increasing oral-pharyngeal constructive traits (jaws and taste buds) at the expense of eyes in the blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus. In cavefish embryos, eye primordia degenerate under the influence of hyperactive Shh signaling. In concert, cavefish show amplified jaw size and taste bud numbers as part of a change in feeding behavior. To...

Volume 11, Number 1, 2008 Hedgehog (HH) proteins, a family of secreted molecules first identified by a genetic screen in Drosophila, are involved in many patterning processes during development. Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is the most broadly expressed member of three mammalian HH homologues and is probably responsible for the major effects of this signalling pathway. Genes in the Shh signalling pathw...

Stratified epithelium displays an equilibrium between proliferation and cell cycle arrest, a balance that is disrupted in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway activation appears sufficient to induce BCC, however, the way it does so is unknown. Shh-induced epidermal hyperplasia is accompanied by continued cell proliferation in normally growth arrested suprabasal cells in vivo...

Signaling by Sonic hedgehog (Shh) controls important developmental processes, including dorsoventral neural tube patterning, neural stem cell proliferation, and neuronal and glial cell survival. Shh signaling involves lipid modifications to Shh itself, as well as changes in protein subcellular localization. Recent advances have revealed the importance of palmitoylation and acylation of Shh on i...

Muscle progenitor cells migrate from the lateral somites into the developing vertebrate limb, where they undergo patterning and differentiation in response to local signals. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a secreted molecule made in the posterior limb bud that affects patterning and development of multiple tissues, including skeletal muscles. However, the cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous functi...

The distribution of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is a highly regulated and critical process for development. Several negative feedback mechanisms are in place, including the Shh-induced upregulation of Hedgehog-interacting protein (Hhip). Hhip sequesters Shh, leading to a non-cell autonomous inhibition of the pathway. Hhip overexpression has a severe effect on neural tube development, raising the quest...