Recombinant Human Sonic Hedgehog/Shh Protein, C24II, E. coli-derived, GMP grade

Members of the Hedgehog (Hh) family are highly conserved proteins that are widely represented throughout the animal kingdom. The three known mammalian Hh proteins, Sonic (Shh), Desert (Dhh) and Indian (Ihh), are structurally related, and share a high degree of amino acid sequence identity (e.g. Shh and Ihh are 93% identical). Shh is a secreted protein that regulates developmental morphogenesis of the central nervous system, somite, limb, whisker and hair follicles, foregut, tooth, and bone. Shh is also involved in regulating neural and hematopoietic stem cell fate and determination of the T cell repertoire. Shh undergoes an autocatalytic processing that yields a palmitoylated N-terminal fragment and a C-terminal fragment. The N-terminal domain retains all known signaling capabilities, while the C-terminal domain acts as a cholesterol transferase. Shh activity is mediated by a multicomponent receptor complex, including Patched (PTC) and Smoothened (SMO).