Presentation description

The Hedgehog signaling pathway is a crucial signal transduction pathway in animal development. Signal transduction is mediated by the type F GPCR, Smoothened. Hedgehog signaling occurs in the primary cilium, a membrane-based, antennae-like signaling hub. Since no proteins are made in the primary cilium, all signaling molecules must be transported to the organelle. This research focuses on elucidating the mechanism by which Smoothened localizes to the primary cilium in order to properly signal.