The product of the segment polarity gene patched is a transmembrane protein involved in the cell communication processes that establish polarity within the embryonic segments of Drosophila. Monoclonal antibodies have been raised against the patched protein, and by immunoelectron microscopy part of the patched staining is found associated with discrete regions of the lateral plasma membrane of t...

The Sonic hedgehog (SHH) pathway is implicated in the etiology of the most common human cancer in Caucasians, the basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Mutations in the receptor of SHH, the patched gene, have been characterized in sporadic BCCs as well as those from patients with the rare genetic syndromes nevoid BCC and xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). To elucidate the role of UV in the deregulation of the S...

In the adult brain, self-renewal is essential for the persistence of neural stem cells (NSCs) throughout life, but its regulation is still poorly understood. One NSC can give birth to two NSCs or one NSC and one transient progenitor. A correct balance is necessary for the maintenance of germinal areas, and understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying NSC division mode is clearly important....

A first step in hematopoiesis is the specification of the lymphoid and myeloid lineages from multipotent progenitor cells in the bone marrow. Using a conditional ablation strategy in adult mice, we show that this differentiation step requires Patched (Ptch), the cell surface-bound receptor for Hedgehog (Hh). In the absence of Ptch, the development of T- and B-lymphoid lineages is blocked at the...