Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, 401 MREB, 20 North 1900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84103, USA.
Science. 2009 Dec 4;326(5958):1406-10. doi: 10.1126/science.1178712. Epub 2009 Oct 22.
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays multiple essential roles during metazoan development, homeostasis, and disease. Although core protein components are highly conserved, the variations in Hh signal transduction mechanisms exhibited by existing model systems (Drosophila, fish, and mammals) are difficult to understand. We characterized the Hh pathway in planarians. Hh signaling is essential for establishing the anterior/posterior axis during regeneration by modulating wnt expression. Moreover, RNA interference methods to reduce signal transduction proteins Cos2/Kif27/Kif7, Fused, or Iguana do not result in detectable Hh signaling defects; however, these proteins are essential for planarian ciliogenesis. Our study expands the understanding of Hh signaling in the animal kingdom and suggests an ancestral mechanistic link between Hh signaling and the function of cilia.
刺猬 (Hh) 信号通路在后生动物发育、内稳态和疾病中发挥多种重要作用。尽管核心蛋白成分高度保守，但现有模型系统（果蝇、鱼类和哺乳动物）中展示的 Hh 信号转导机制的变化难以理解。我们对扁形动物中的 Hh 途径进行了表征。Hh 信号通过调节 wnt 表达对再生过程中的前后轴建立至关重要。此外，降低信号转导蛋白 Cos2/Kif27/Kif7、Fused 或 Iguana 的 RNA 干扰方法不会导致可检测的 Hh 信号缺陷；然而，这些蛋白对于扁形动物纤毛发生是必需的。我们的研究扩展了对动物界中 Hh 信号的理解，并表明 Hh 信号与纤毛功能之间存在古老的机制联系。
