Hedgehog Signaling News and Research

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Study provides new insights into development of Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma is the most common type of solid brain tumor in children. Current treatments offer limited success and may leave patients with severe neurological side effects, including psychiatric disorders, growth retardation and cognitive impairment.

13 Dec 2017

Researchers identify way to prevent fat cells from growing larger

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a way to prevent fat cells from growing larger, a process that leads to weight gain and obesity. By activating a pathway in fat cells in mice, the researchers found they could feed the animals a high-fat diet without making them obese.

5 Dec 2017

USC researchers propose rules for making ribs

Scientists from the USC Stem Cell lab of Francesca Mariani recently shared a recipe for ribs, and it doesn't even require barbecue sauce.

29 Nov 2017

Sonic Hedgehog helps solve mysteries of Parkinson's disease

You may know Sonic Hedgehog as a Sega videogame character who saves us all from world domination. But within the realm of science, Sonic Hedgehog is also helping to solve the mysteries of Parkinson's Disease.

28 Oct 2017

Two studies set groundwork for new avenues to treat influenza and anthrax poisoning

Two recent studies led by biologists at the University of California San Diego have set the research groundwork for new avenues to treat influenza and anthrax poisoning

17 Oct 2017

New insights into rare-among-rare genetic bone disorder

I have been writing about conditions that cause out-of-place bone formation for over 10 years – since the discovery of the gene in 2006 for the rare bone disorder, FOP (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive). But it was while interviewing geneticist Eileen Shore, PhD last spring about another bone disorder, progressive osseous heteroplasia, or POH, that it really hit me how much more rare POH is compared to FOP.

10 Oct 2017

Research identifies new gene fusions and mutations linked to GIST tumors

Researchers at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, with colleagues from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Fox Chase Cancer Center, have determined that a specific region of the small bowel, called the duodenal-jejunal flexure or DJF, shows a high frequency of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) with mutations of the NF1 gene

18 Aug 2017

Cellular antennae play key role in muscle-to-fat transformation

Like it or not, as we age, our muscle cells are slowly exchanged, one by one, for fat cells. This process quickens when we injure a muscle, and an extreme form of this process is also seen in muscle-wasting diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

13 Jul 2017

New research offers crucial step towards understanding cause of myopathy

Pioneering research using the tropical zebrafish could provide new insights into the genetic basis of myopathy, a type of human muscle disease.

6 Jul 2017

IRB Barcelona scientists reveal role of Dpp gene in wing growth of fruit flies

Researchers working in the Development and Growth Control Lab at IRB Barcelona reveal that the Dpp gene (BMP in humans) plays a double role in the structural organization and growth of the wings of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

5 Jul 2017

Molecular biologists identify enzyme that activates and ‘supercharges’ cellular machinery

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital molecular biologists have identified an enzyme that activates and "supercharges" cellular machinery that controls how cells become specialized cells in the body.

7 Jun 2017

GW scientist awarded $1.7 million grant to understand mechanisms behind Hedgehog receptor

Among scientists specializing in the area, the mechanisms behind the signaling function of the Hedgehog (Hh) receptor pathway remain a mystery. Xiaoyen Zheng, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and regenerative biology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, who recently received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Sciences, is determined to learn more about the Hh pathway.

4 May 2017

Study describes new targets for precision treatment of meningiomas

Winner of the Integra Foundation Award, Mark W. Youngblood, presented his research, Clinical and Molecular Features of Genomic Subgroups in Meningioma, during the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting.

29 Apr 2017

Researchers to examine link between zinc deficiency, Hedgehog, and prostate cancer

Experiments show that Hedgehog signaling - a chain of molecular events critical in embryonic development - creates conditions beneficial to the unregulated cell growth associated with cancer in adults.

28 Feb 2017

IRB Barcelona researchers disclose new signal involved in growth of fly wings

Many of the secrets of life, such as how we become a certain size and shape, have been uncovered in studies performed over more than 100 years and involving animal models such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

10 Jan 2017

Research findings on sweat glands have potential to improve methods for culturing skin grafts

As early humans shed the hairy coats of their closest evolutionary ancestors, they also gained a distinct feature that would prove critical to their success: a type of sweat gland that allows the body to cool down quickly. Those tiny glands are enormously useful, allowing us to live in a wide variety of climates, and enabling us to run long distances.

4 Jan 2017

Research redefines role of Spop protein during bone development

Loss of a key protein leads to defects in skeletal development including reduced bone density and a shortening of the fingers and toes -- a condition known as brachydactyly. T

9 Dec 2016

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press publishes new book on key aspects of ciliary biology

Nearly every cell in the human body has one or more protrusive structures called cilia or flagella.

7 Dec 2016

Researchers discover Hedgehog signaling pathway is key to formation of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic provide the first evidence that the Hedgehog signaling pathway is central to the formation of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), which are frequently driven by the KIT oncogene.

1 Nov 2016

Scientists discover key molecule that drives regeneration in planarian stem cells

Many living creatures possess exceptional abilities that set them apart from other species. Cheetahs can run up to 60 miles per hour; ants can lift 100 times their body weight; flatworms can regrow amputated body parts.

12 Aug 2016