# Hedgehog Signaling in Development and Metabolism

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2022 · $242,534

## Abstract

Abstract:
The existing MIRA R35 is supporting the research in our laboratory. We focus on the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling
pathway that plays critical roles in pattern formation and cell growth control and is also involved in metabolic
control. While many components in the Hh pathway have been identified, how the Hh signal is transduced
through the 12-span transmembrane protein Patched (Ptc) to the 7-span transmembrane protein Smoothened
is still unclear. The overarching goal of our research program is to understand how Hh signals are sensed and
transmitted to control downstream biological events that ultimately govern cell growth and patterning. Drosophila
fat body and oenocyte have emerged as attractive models to study lipid metabolism and circulation. Published
and preliminary findings in these models have indicated that lipid accumulation is regulated by highly conserved
signaling pathways, and that Hh signaling controls not only lipogenesis but also lipolysis by regulating specific
genes. These studies provide new tools and hypotheses for investigating the mechanisms of Smo signaling and
the role of Hh/Smo signaling in regulating lipid metabolism, which relevance to such cancers as basal cell
carcinoma and medulloblastoma. This administrative supplemental application to acquire a higher quality
confocal system as an add-on to the existing microscope platform will foster the ongoing experiments in this
research program. The advanced scanning capacities in addition to the higher resolution, the new confocal
system will significantly improve the quality of the imaging analysis to examine Hh signaling in lipid metabolic
regulation in the fat body and dramatically enhance our ability to examine how localization of lipids and/or
cholesterol regulates Smo abundance in metabolic tissues, such as the fat body.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10582037
- **Project number:** 3R35GM131807-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jianhang Jia
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $242,534
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10582037

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10582037, Hedgehog Signaling in Development and Metabolism (3R35GM131807-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10582037. Licensed CC0.

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