Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7366-8630

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Keywords

Hedgehog pathway, Protein pathway, Anencephaly, Polydactyly, Congenital disorders, Birth defects, GLI3, Neural tube defect, WDR34, Smoothened agonist

Department

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Abstract

The Hedgehog pathway is a fundamental signaling pathway in the human body; involved in carcinogenesis, stem cell maintenance, as well as limb patterning in embryonic development. Originally discovered in drosophila, their initial discovery, and subsequent analysis revealed many novel pieces of information about the mechanisms inside the human body, as many core components of the signaling pathway are carried over from fruit flies to humans. Because of the key roles hedgehog signaling plays in human development, dysfunction and mutations in the pathway can be detrimental. This review will focus on two congenital birth defects thought to be caused by hedgehog signaling dysfunction; anencephaly, and polydactyly. Both disorders that produce notable effects on the human body, but yet have differing manifestations and severities.

Comments

Done as a part of the FRI Biomedical Chemistry program under leadership of Dr.Zihan Xu

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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