Postnatal organisation of the Indian Hedgehog-PTHrP system

The Indian Hedgehog (Ihh) – parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) system regulates chondrocyte differentiation in embryonic growth cartilage. Chau and colleagues explored this system postnatally, a time when the region undergoes many changes, both structurally and functionally. They conducted expression analyses of the key genes involved in the system and identified cells showing active Ihh signalling using a mouse model in which Gli1 sequences were replaced with lacZ. They found that the organisation of the postnatal Ihh-PTHrP system was similar to that in the embryonic growth cartilage, but the source of PTHrP migrates to resting zone cartilage, allowing PTHrp to remain close to PTHrP-responsive cells in the proliferative zone. Chau et al. (2011) Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 47 99-107.

Read the full article at: DOI:10.1530/JME-10-0177.