title: N-terminal fatty-acylation of sonic hedgehog enhances the induction of rodent ventral forebrain neurons.
abstract: The adult basal ganglia arise from the medial and lateral ganglionic eminences, morphologically distinct structures found in the embryonic telencephalon. We have previously shown that temporal changes in sonic hedgehog (Shh) responsiveness determine the sequential induction of embryonic neurons that populate the medial and lateral ganglionic eminences. In this report, we show that Shh-mediated differentiation of neurons that populate the lateral ganglionic eminence express different combinations of the homeobox-containing transcription factors Dlx, Mash1 and Islet 1/2. Furthermore, we show that N-terminal fatty-acylation of Shh significantly enhances its ability to induce the differentiation of rat E11 telencephalic neurons expressing Dlx, Islet 1/2 or Mash1. Recent evidence indicates that in utero injection of the E9.5 mouse forebrain with retroviruses encoding wild-type Shh induces the ectopic expression of Dlx2 and severe deformities in the brain. In this report, we show that Shh containing a mutation at the site of acylation prevents either of these phenotypes. These results suggest that N-terminal fatty-acylation of Shh may play an important role in Shh-dependent signaling during rodent ventral forebrain formation.
authors.affiliation: Program in Neurobiology and Department of Pediatrics, Box 209, Children's Memorial Institute for Research and Education, Northwestern University Medical School, 2430 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA. j-kohtz@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kohtz
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gaiano
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Garber
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fishell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D019814:Myristic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019308:Palmitic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D017354:Point Mutation; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013687:Telencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: C088334:Distal-less homeobox proteins; D005227:Fatty Acids; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C509239:SHH protein, human; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D019814:Myristic Acid; D019308:Palmitic Acid