Wnt and Shh signalling in invertebrates Flashcards
Where were Shh and WNT signalling discovered and what was SHH labelled as?
-Drosophila
- SHH labelled a segment polarity gene
How are SHH and WNT connected in terms of feedback?
Shh induces WNT expression and WNT signals back and reinduces Shh
- Shh expressed in posterior embryo and WNT expressed in anterior
***SO, if you lose one signalling you use the other and when they aren’t expressed there is no segmentation/polarity
How did the name WNT come about?
Int1 in mice was discovered at the same time as WNT and SHH,
The name comes from the morphing of Wg (wingless) in drosophila with Int1 in mice - making WNT
What are the three orthologues of the SHH genes that vertebrates have?
Shh
Desert hedgehog
Indian hedgehog
How is the signal generated in the producing cell regarding SHH?
- SHH protein is produced with signalling peptide which enters secretory pathway and is then cleaved off
- C terminus is a proteolytic enzyme which then cleaves itself
- This causes cholesterol modification (cholesterol added on)
- Fatty acid is then attached to N terminus making it hydrophobic
- Hydrophobic means it cant move from the membrane so proteins such as ‘Dispatched’ and Scube help it to travel its signl
How is the signal generated in the producing cell regarding WNT?
- Two fatty acids added, one to the cysteine and one to the serine (fatty acid modification)
- Wnt = hydrophobic , cant move
- Wntless is a gene which then lets Wnt get on to the outer membrane
- Cytonemes + HSPGs known to be important to let Wnt detach from the membrane
What are cytonemes and what do they do?
- Long cellular protrusions which grow out from the cell and at the tip the Wnt ligand is positioned
- Reaches out and sends a signal so the Wnt signalling can get far away from the producing cell
What is the use of HSPGs?
- WNT can bind to HSPGs at the polysaccharides but also has a binding pocket for palmitate
- Palmitate allows WNT to be handed over from molecule to molecule and also to other cells
- Facilitated diffusion vibes
What are the downstream signalling evens involved with SHH, patched and smoothened?
Patched= SHH receptor
- When SHH is not there, patched is inhibiting Smoothened which is involved in the downstream cascade
- When SHH binds, patched is inactivated and smoothened becomes activated + relocates to membrane and accumulates
How many patched genes are there in vertebrates?
2:
Patched 1 and Patched 2
What are cilia important for in vertebrates regarding SHH signalling?
- They are a ‘focal point’ for signalling
- Smo and Patched are only present at the cilia, this was discovered in mouse mutants where they had no cilia
How does Patched work?
- In the absence of Hh ligands, PTCH restricts SMO by depleting cholesterol from the membrane where SMO is.
- Inhibition prevents SMO from propagating the Hedgehog signal.
- When Hh ligands bind to PTCH, restriction is lifted
- PTCH no longer depletes cholesterol, allowing itl to accumulate in the membrane , activating SMO.
- So one molecule of patched can activate multiple Smo because if one Patched is keeping cholesterol out of the membrane then no Smo will be turned on
What is happening downstream when SHH is not bound?
- Ci is the transcriptional activator which in its full length leads to hh signalling effects
- Two complexes stop it from being able to perform:
1. Complex containing Cos2 (kinesin) and Fuse (kinase) This is the first complex bound to smoothened
2. Contains the Ci and supressor of fused gene - Under the influence of the first complex, a complex containing CKI, GSK3 and PKA can act on Ci
- This then means Ci is processed to its shorter form via Slimb via ubiquitination
- The shorter form acts as a transcriptional repressor and is called CiR, repressing hedgehog genes
What is Ci called in vertebrates?
Gli 1,2 and 3
What is the downstream signalling of hh when there is a ligand present?
- The interaction of Ci with the three kinases (CKI,PKA, GSK3) is blocked
- Full Ci length is released that will actively promote transcription of target genes
- This active formation is thought that the supressor of fusion