The Sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway plays an important role in the development of many tissues and organs. The secreted ligand Shh has been shown to act as a mitogen, morphogen and survival factor in different contexts whereas the three Gli transcription factors act as Shh mediators in a context-dependent combinatorial fashion. The common wisdom has been that Gli protein function is subject to Shh...

Sarcoidosis is an immune mediated disease thought to be caused by complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Involvement of genetic factors in sarcoidosis is supported by familial clustering, increased concordance in monozygotic twins and varying incidence and disease presentation among different ethnic groups. Studies have revealed several human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and ...