Sonic hedgehog
The sonic hedgehog protein (SHH) is coded by the SHH gene.[1] The protein is named after the character Sonic the Hedgehog.
This key signalling molecule regulates embryonic development in all animals. SHH controls organogenesis and the organization of the central nervous system, limbs, digits and many other parts of the body. Sonic hedgehog is a morphogen that patterns the developing embryo using a concentration gradient.[2]
Abnormal activation of SHH signalling in adult tissues causes various types of cancers. General readers might look for a simplified account by an expert author.[3]
Sonic Hedgehog Media
SHH gradient and Gli activity in the vertebrate neural tube.
Processing of Sonic hedgehog protein
The concentration gradient of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) expands dorsally from the floor plate (FP) and notochord (NC) to pattern the developing vertebrate neural tube. Shown here the variance in Shh ligand concentration elicits different cell fates in successive progenitor domains by activation of transcription factors Olig2 and Nkx2.2, and Irx3.
References
- ↑ Marigo V, Roberts DJ, Lee SM, Tsukurov O, Levi T, Gastier JM, et al. (July 1995). "Cloning, expression, and chromosomal location of SHH and IHH: two human homologues of the Drosophila segment polarity gene hedgehog". Genomics. 28 (1): 44–51. doi:10.1006/geno.1995.1104. PMID 7590746.
- ↑ Jaeger J, Martinez-Arias A (March 2009). "Getting the measure of positional information". PLOS Biology. 7 (3): e81. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000081. PMC 2661971. PMID 19338391.
- ↑ Carey, Nessa 2017. Junk DNA: a journey through the dark matter of the genome. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231539418, p202.