Article
Neurosciences
Wen Li, Lei Chen, Jonathan T. Fleming, Emily Brignola, Kirill Zavalin, Andre Lagrange, Tonia Rex, Shane A. Heiney, Gregory J. Wojaczynski, Javier F. Medina, Chin Chiang
Summary: Cerebellar inhibitory interneurons play an important role in regulating neural circuit activity for motor and nonmotor functions. GABAergic progenitors respond to Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, influencing the generation and number of cerebellar inhibitory interneurons. Mutant mice studies reveal the essential role of Shh-dependent stellate cells in regulating inhibitory synapses and motor learning.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vladimir Jovasevic, Hui Zhang, Farahnaz Sananbenesi, Anita L. Guedea, Kizhake Soman, John E. Wiktorowicz, Andre Fischer, Jelena Radulovic
Summary: It has been shown that genes associated with cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix remain dynamically expressed even at remote time points, with primary cilium and collagen genes playing a significant role in stabilizing perineuronal nets to promote memory formation. Nonsynaptic, primary cilium-mediated mechanisms are essential for the persistence of context memory.
Article
Developmental Biology
Adam W. Olson, Vien Le, Jinhui Wang, Alex Hiroto, Won Kyung Kim, Dong-Hoon Lee, Joseph Aldahl, Xiwei Wu, Minhyung Kim, Gerald R. Cunha, Sungyong You, Zijie Sun
Summary: The study demonstrates that stromal androgen receptor (AR) action is crucial for prostate development, and selective deletion of stromal AR expression in prepubescent Gli1-expressing cells disrupts androgen signaling-initiated stromal-epithelial paracrine interactions, leading to growth retardation and developmental defects in pubertal prostate epithelia. Aberrant shh-signaling activation and altered differentiation fates of prostatic epithelial cells are identified as key mechanisms affected by stromal AR deletion.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hisayuki Osanai, Indrajith R. R. Nair, Takashi Kitamura
Summary: Episodic memory, crucial to our daily lives, relies on the entorhinal cortex (EC) and hippocampus (HPC). Recent studies have revealed the complementary roles of superficial and deep layers of neurons in memory formation and recall.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ana Dunatov Huljev, Nela Kelam, Benjamin Benzon, Violeta Soljic, Natalija Filipovic, Valdi Pesutic Pisac, Merica Glavina Durdov, Katarina Vukojevic
Summary: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the deadliest neoplasm of the urinary tract. The expression of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) was found to be higher in grade 1 tumors and decreased with tumor progression. PTCH expression was lower in grades 1 and 2 compared to the control and grade 4, while SMO expression was higher in grade 4 than in other grades and the control. High PTCH and low SMO expression were associated with better survival rates in ccRCC patients.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Haritha Kunhiraman, Leon McSwain, Shubin W. Shahab, Timothy R. Gershon, Tobey J. MacDonald, Anna Marie Kenney
Summary: This study found that the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) subtype of medulloblastoma (MB) has a unique tumor microenvironment compared to other subtypes. The SHH MB cells were found to produce elevated levels of IGFBP2, which is required for SHH MB cell proliferation, colony formation, and cell migration. These findings suggest that targeting the IGFBP2-STAT3 axis could be a novel therapeutic approach for SHH medulloblastoma.
ACTA NEUROPATHOLOGICA COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sangwoo Shim, Raman Goyal, Alexios A. Panoutsopoulos, Olga A. Balashova, David Lee, Laura N. Borodinsky
Summary: The balance between neural stem cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation is crucial for the development of the nervous system. We found that Sonic hedgehog (Shh) enhances Ca2+ activity at the cilia of developing Xenopus laevis embryos, which promotes neuronal differentiation and inhibits proliferative signaling. These findings provide potential targets for the treatment of brain tumors and neurodevelopmental disorders.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Nail Benallegue, Hania Kebir, Richa Kapoor, Alexis Crockett, Cen Li, Lara Cheslow, Mohamed S. Abdel-Hakeem, James Gesualdi, Miles C. Miller, E. John Wherry, Molly E. Church, M. Andres Blanco, Jorge Alvarez
Summary: The study reveals the previously unrecognized role of the endogenous hedgehog signaling pathway in regulating pathogenic inflammation within the central nervous system. By targeting CD4 T cells and modulating the production of inflammatory cytokines, the hedgehog pathway shows potential as a therapeutic strategy to limit the progression of ongoing neuroinflammation. Systemic administration of a hedgehog agonist after disease onset effectively halts disease progression and reduces neuroinflammation and associated neuropathology.
Article
Biology
Garrett J. Blair, Changliang Guo, Shiyun Wang, Michael S. Fanselow, Peyman Golshani, Daniel Aharoni, Hugh T. Blair
Summary: This study found that place cells in the hippocampus of rats undergo remapping during the memory of aversive events, indicating that reorganization of hippocampal population codes may play a role in storing memories for aversive events.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shachar Sherman, Irene Arnold-Ammer, Martin W. Schneider, Koichi Kawakami, Herwig Baier
Summary: This study demonstrates that neurons in visual brain areas can differentiate and wire up normally, albeit more slowly, even without connections to the retina.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alessandra M. Norris, Ambili Bai Appu, Connor D. Johnson, Lylybell Y. Zhou, David W. McKellar, Marie-Ange Renault, David Hammers, Benjamin D. Cosgrove, Daniel Kopinke
Summary: Successful muscle regeneration relies on the interplay of multiple cell populations, and the Hedgehog signaling pathway plays a crucial role in controlling the fate of fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) and muscle regeneration. This study also highlights the potential role of mis-regulation of the Hh pathway in pathological intramuscular fat formation.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Larry R. Squire, Jennifer C. Frascino, Charlotte S. Rivera, Nadine C. Heyworth, Biyu J. He
Summary: One-trial, long-lasting perceptual learning relies on hippocampus-independent (nondeclarative) memory, independent of any requirement to consciously remember. Patients with hippocampal lesions or larger medial temporal lobe (MTL) lesions show intact perceptual learning but impaired memory for the images presented.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daisuke Ohtsuka, Naoki Kida, Sang-Woo Lee, Naofumi Kawahira, Yoshihiro Morishita
Summary: The physical causes of organ malformation are unclear due to a lack of information on tissue/cell dynamics. This study focuses on cyclopia in sonic hedgehog-inhibited chick embryos and shows that SHH-dependent polarized patterns and collective cell motion contribute to optic vesicle elongation during normal development. Mechanical responses are found to be responsible for the polarized dynamics, and without SHH signaling, cells cannot detect stress direction and move randomly, leading to insufficient optic vesicle elongation and cyclopia.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lauren A. Shechtman, Christina M. Piarowski, Jennifer K. Scott, Erin J. Golden, Dany Gaillard, Linda A. Barlow
Summary: The sense of taste is mediated by taste buds on the tongue, composed of rapidly renewing taste receptor cells. This turnover is impacted by medical treatments, leading to a disruption in taste function and affecting the quality of life. Mouse models are commonly used to study this process due to ethical concerns and limited availability of human taste tissue, allowing for rapid experiments with many replicates and fewer mice.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2021)
Article
Developmental Biology
Dong-Hoon Lee, Adam W. Olson, Jinhui Wang, Won Kyung Kim, Jiaqi Mi, Hong Zeng, Vien Le, Joseph Aldahl, Alex Hiroto, Xiwei Wu, Zijie Sun
Summary: This study utilized a mouse model to investigate the crucial role of stromal androgen signaling in prostate development at a single-cell level. The research revealed the importance of dynamic interactions between cells in driving early prostate development, shedding light on the molecular mechanisms involved in AR-initiated mesenchymal-epithelial interactions.
