The hedgehog (hh) signaling pathway is implicated in patterning both invertebrate and vertebrate embryos. Genetic analysis in Drosophila established that the cubitus interruptus (ci) is the most downstream component of the signaling pathway. There are three ci homologs in vertebrate, Gli1, Gli2 and Gli3. The overall goal of the proposal is to determine the distinct and yet overlapping function of these three Gli genes in hh signaling pathway by using the knock-in approach. Specifically, the endogenous coding sequence of Gli2 will be replaced by that of Gli1 and Gli3. This project will be done in three steps. First, the 5' region of Gli2 genomic region will be analyzed to select a knock-in site. In the meantime, Gli1 and Gli3 knock-in construct will be made and tested in Sonic hedgehog responsive cell line MNS70. In the second step, knock-in constructs will be introduced into embryonic stem cells. Chimeric embryos and germline mutant mice will be generated. Finally, the phenotypes associated with heterozygous and homozygous mutant mice will be analyzed by using various marker genes in the spinal cord, lung and skeleton. Studies on the function of Gli genes have direct relevance to human development and disease since homolog of these three genes exist in humans and mutations in these genes have been implicated in cancers and developmental defects.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32HD008585-02
Application #
6329863
Study Section
Biological Sciences 2 (BIOL)
Program Officer
Henken, Deborah B
Project Start
2000-12-01
Project End
Budget Start
2000-12-01
Budget End
2001-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$40,196
Indirect Cost
Name
New York University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10016
Bai, C B; Joyner, A L (2001) Gli1 can rescue the in vivo function of Gli2. Development 128:5161-72