Kakanj, Parisa (2011). Indian hedgehog function in skin development and tumour formation. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.
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Abstract
The Hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway plays an essential role during mammalian skin development and epidermal regeneration. Out of the three mammalian Hh homologs, Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is the best characterised Hh ligand in the skin. Shh is expressed during hair morphogenesis and is required for hair follicle formation and cyclic hair regeneration. Mutations in Shh and other components of the Hh pathway result in skin abnormalities and tumour formation, e.g. Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), the most common cancer in humans. Indian hedgehog (Ihh) is expressed in the sebaceous gland (SG), a hair follicle associated epidermal appendage, which secretes sebum to lubricate and protect the skin. However, an in vivo function for Ihh has not been identified in the skin. In vitro studies indicated that components of the Hh pathway are up-regulated and activity of the pathway is increased upon differentiation of human sebocytes. Furthermore, it was shown that activation of Hh signalling in basal keratinocytes promotes ectopic SG and sebaceous duct formation. Analysis of sebaceous tumours in mouse models and in humans demonstrated expression of Ihh in mature tumour cells. These observations led to the hypothesis that Ihh could be an important factor regulating differentiation and tumour formation in the skin. To address these issues, an epidermis-specific Ihh knockout (Ihh EKO) was generated. The absence of epidermal Ihh significantly inhibits proliferation in early skin development however; morphogenesis of SGs, hair follicles and the interfollicular epidermis was not altered. Importantly, a function of Ihh for tumourigenesis was identified. In particular, Ihh increases the size of tumours and induces SG and sebaceous duct fate differentiation and this was accompanied by a reduced number of follicular progenitors. In addition, Ihh signalling promoted proliferation and regulated p53 in squamous epidermal tumours. The results indicate that regulation of p53 constitutes a general function of Ihh in keratinocytes and that Ihh plays an important role in patho-physiological conditions of the skin.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD thesis) | ||||||||
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-47052 | ||||||||
Date: | 28 June 2011 | ||||||||
Language: | English | ||||||||
Faculty: | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences | ||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences > Department of Biology > Institute for Genetics | ||||||||
Subjects: | Life sciences | ||||||||
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Date of oral exam: | 28 June 2011 | ||||||||
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Refereed: | Yes | ||||||||
URI: | http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/4705 |
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