Nature Genetics
- 38, 1204 - 1209 (2006)
Published online: 3 September 2006; | doi:10.1038/ng1874
Indian hedgehog is a major mediator of progesterone signaling in the mouse uterusKevin Lee1, JaeWook Jeong1, Inseok Kwak1, Cheng-Tai Yu1, Beate Lanske2, Desi W Soegiarto3, Rune Toftgard4, Ming-Jer Tsai1, Sophia Tsai1, John P Lydon1 & Francesco J DeMayo11
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. 2
Department of Developmental Biology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. 3
Molecular Endocrinology, Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried/Munich, Germany. 4
Department of Biosciences at NOVUM, Center for Nutrition and Toxicology, Karolinska Institute, S-141 57 Huddinge, Sweden.
Correspondence should be addressed to Francesco J DeMayo fdemayo@bcm.tmc.edu The hedgehog family of morphogens are regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and cell-cell communication. These morphogens have been shown to have important roles in organogenesis, spermatogenesis, stem cell maintenance and oncogenesis1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9. Indian hedgehog (encoded by Ihh
) has been shown to be expressed in the uterine epithelium under the control of the steroid hormone, progesterone10,
11. Although in vivo and in vitro studies have shown that progesterone achieves its effects on uterine function through epithelial-stromal cross-talk, molecular mediator(s) for this cellular communication pathway have not been elucidated12,
13. Using new experimental approaches that ablate Ihh specifically in Pgr
-positive uterine cells of the mouse, we demonstrate that Ihh is an essential mediator of Pgr action in the uterus, and expression of this factor is critical in mediating the communication between the uterine epithelium and stroma required for embryo implantation.
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