Emerging Roles of Sonic Hedgehog in Adult Neurological Diseases: Neurogenesis and Beyond
- Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Aug 16;19(8):2423. doi: 10.3390/ijms19082423.
- 1. Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung City 83301, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 2. Institute for Translational Research in Biomedicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung City 83301, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 3. College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 4. Institute for Translational Research in Biomedicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung City 83301, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 5. Department of Neurology, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei 11556, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 6. Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan. [email protected].
- 7. Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan. [email protected].
Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), a member of the Hedgehog (Hh) family, was originally recognized as a morphogen possessing critical characters for neural development during embryogenesis. Recently, however, Shh has emerged as an important modulator in adult neural tissues through different mechanisms such as neurogenesis, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, and Autophagy. Therefore, Shh may potentially have clinical application in neurodegenerative diseases and brain injuries. In this article, we present some examples, including ours, to show different aspects of Shh signaling and how Shh agonists or mimetics are used to alter the neuronal fates in various disease models, both in vitro and in vivo. Other potential mechanisms that are discussed include alteration of mitochondrial function and Anti-aging effect; both are critical for age-related neurodegenerative diseases. A thorough understanding of the protective mechanisms elicited by Shh may provide a rationale to design innovative therapeutic regimens for various neurodegenerative diseases.