Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is an indispensable, extrinsic cue that regulates progenitor and stem cell behavior in the developing and adult mammalian central nervous system. Here, we investigate the link between the Shh signaling pathway and Hes1, a classical Notch target. We show that Shh-driven stabilization of Hes1 is independent of Notch signaling and requires the Shh effector Gli2. We identify Gl...

Mitochondria are essential organelles whose biogenesis, structure, and function are regulated by many signaling pathways. We present evidence that, in hippocampal neurons, activation of the Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway affects multiple aspects of mitochondria. Mitochondrial mass was increased significantly in neurons treated with Shh. Using biochemical and fluorescence imaging analyse...

Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons grow towards the diencephalic ventral midline during embryogenesis guided by cues whose nature is largely unknown. We provide in vitro and in vivo evidence for a novel role of Sonic hedgehog (SHH) as a negative regulator of growth cone movement. SHH suppresses both the number and the length of neurites emerging from the chick retina but not from neural tube or ...

Correct development of the cerebellum requires coordinated sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling from Purkinje to granule cells. How Shh expression is regulated in Purkinje cells is poorly understood. Using a novel tyrosinase minigene-tagged Sleeping Beauty transposon-mediated mutagenesis, which allows for coat color-based genotyping, we created mice in which the Ski/Sno family transcriptional co-repr...

Lhx6 and Lhx8 transcription factor coexpression in early-born MGE neurons is required to induce neuronal Shh expression. We provide evidence that these transcription factors regulate expression of a Shh enhancer in MGE neurons. Lhx6 and Lhx8 are also required to prevent Nkx2-1 expression in a subset of pallial interneurons. Shh function in early-born MGE neurons was determined by genetically el...

The differentiation of floor plate cells and motor neurons can be induced by Sonic hedgehog (SHH), a secreted signaling protein that undergoes autoproteolytic cleavage to generate amino- and carboxy-terminal products. We have found that both floor plate cells and motor neurons are induced by the amino-terminal cleavage product of SHH (SHH-N). The threshold concentration of SHH-N required for mo...

During nervous system development, gradients of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) and Netrin-1 attract growth cones of commissural axons toward the floor plate of the embryonic spinal cord. Mice defective for either Shh or Netrin-1 signaling have commissural axon guidance defects, suggesting that both Shh and Netrin-1 are required for correct axon guidance. However, how Shh and Netrin-1 collaborate to guide...

p63 and p73 are members of the p53 protein family and have been shown to play an important role in cell death, development, and tumorigenesis. In particular, p63 has been shown to be involved in the maintenance of epidermal stem cells and in the stratification of the epidermis. Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is a morphogen that has also been implicated to play a role in epithelial stem cell proliferation...

Normal patterning of tissues and organs requires the tight restriction of signaling molecules to well-defined organizing centers. In the limb bud, one of the main signaling centers is the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) that controls growth and patterning through the production of sonic hedgehog (SHH). The appropriate temporal and spatial expression of Shh is crucial for normal limb bud patte...

The interaction between signaling pathways is a central question in the study of organogenesis. Using the developing murine tongue as a model, we uncovered unknown relationships between Sonic hedgehog (SHH) and retinoic acid (RA) signaling. Genetic loss of SHH signaling leads to enhanced RA activity subsequent to loss of SHH-dependent expression of Cyp26a1 and Cyp26c1. This causes a cell identi...