The Roles of Hedgehog Signaling in Upper Lip Formation

• Published in: BioMed research international Vol. 2015; no. 2015; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Author: Kurosaka, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01-01-2015; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis; Birth defects; Cell cycle; Cell death; Cilia - metabolism; Embryos; Epithelial Cells - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Genotype & phenotype; Hedgehog Proteins - genetics; Hedgehog Proteins - metabolism; Humans; Ligands; Lip - embryology; Lip - metabolism; Mutation; Review; Signal Transduction
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2015/901041

Craniofacial development consists of a highly complex sequence of the orchestrated growth and fusion of facial processes. It is also known that craniofacial abnormalities can be detected in 1/3 of all patients with congenital diseases. Within the various craniofacial abnormalities, orofacial clefting is one of the most common phenotypic outcomes associated with retarded facial growth or fusion. Cleft lip is one of the representative and frequently encountered conditions in the spectrum of orofacial clefting. Despite various mechanisms or signaling pathways that have been proposed to be the cause of cleft lip, a detailed mechanism that bridges individual signaling pathways to the cleft lip is still elusive. Shh signaling is indispensable for normal embryonic development, and disruption can result in a wide spectrum of craniofacial disorders, including cleft lip. This review focuses on the current knowledge about the mechanisms of facial development and the etiology of cleft lip that are related to Shh signaling.