Title: A Novel Proteolytic Event Controls Hedgehog Intracellular Sorting and Transport
Description: The protein Hedgehog (Hh) is a highly conserved, secreted ligand (and morphogen) capable of patterning many different tissues during development. Recently, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) a human homolog of Drosophila Hh was found to be a causative agent in certain cancers. While several drugs are being developed to combat the binding of SHH to its receptor Patched or the Patched-target Smoothened, very little is known about how SHH is secreted from the producing cell, another site for therapeutic targeting. We report here the characterization of a novel proteolytic event and genetic pathway that controls Hh intracellular sorting and axon transport using the Drosophila eye imaginal disc as our model system.