ToxSci Advance Access originally published online on August 28, 2007
Toxicological Sciences 2007 100(2):456-463; doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfm222
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Identification and Characterization of Several Dietary Alkaloids as Weak Inhibitors of Hedgehog Signaling


,1
* Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin Medical School, K6/562 Clinical Science Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792. Fax: (608) 265-8133. E-mail: bushman{at}surgery.wisc.edu.
Received July 6, 2007; accepted August 22, 2007
| Abstract |
|---|
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays an integral role in the patterning and development of diverse structures in the vertebrate embryo. Aberrations in Hh signaling are associated with a range of developmental defects including failure of interhemispheric division of the embryonic forebrain as well as midline facial dysmorphia including cleft lip/palate and cyclopia, collectively termed holoprosencephaly (HPE). Postnatally, Hh signaling has been postulated to play a pivotal role in healing and repair processes and inappropriate Hh pathway activation has been implicated in several types of cancers. The Veratrum alkaloid cyclopamine is a potent inhibitor of Hh signaling and causes HPE-like defects in diverse species including sheep, hamster, mouse, and zebra fish. Using murine cell-based assays, we have determined that a number of dietary alkaloids similar in structure to cyclopamine also inhibit Hh signaling but with significantly lower potency. We found that these dietary compounds act additively through a mechanism similar to cyclopamine, downstream of Ptc1 and upstream of Gli1. Using an embryonic zebra fish developmental assay, we found that while cyclopamine exposure caused HPE-like defects, exposure to one of these dietary compounds, solanidine, did not.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
R. J. Lipinski, P. R. Hutson, P. W. Hannam, R. J. Nydza, I. M. Washington, R. W. Moore, G. G. Girdaukas, R. E. Peterson, and W. Bushman Dose- and Route-Dependent Teratogenicity, Toxicity, and Pharmacokinetic Profiles of the Hedgehog Signaling Antagonist Cyclopamine in the Mouse Toxicol. Sci., July 1, 2008; 104(1): 189 - 197. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
