Ptch2 mediates the Shh response in Ptch1-/- cells.

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling response is regulated by the interaction of three key components that include the sonic hedgehog (Shh) ligand, its receptor patched 1 (Ptch1) and the pathway activator smoothened (Smo). Under the prevailing model of Shh pathway activation, the binding of Shh to Ptch1 (the key Shh receptor) results in the release of Ptch1-mediated inhibition of Smo, leading to Smo activation and subsequent cell-autonomous activation of the Shh response. Consistent with this model, Ptch1(-/-) cells show a strong upregulation of the Shh response. Our finding that this response can be inhibited by the Shh-blocking antibody 5E1 indicates that the Shh response in Ptch1(-/-) cells remains ligand dependent. Furthermore, we find that Shh induces a strong response in Ptch1(-/-);Shh(-/-) cells, and that Ptch1(-/-) fibroblasts retain their ability to migrate towards Shh, demonstrating that Ptch1(-/-) cells remain sensitive to Shh. Expression of a dominant-negative Ptch1 mutant in the developing chick neural tube had no effect on Shh-mediated patterning, but expression of a dominant-negative form of patched 2 (Ptch2) caused an activation of the Shh response. This indicates that, at early developmental stages, Ptch2 functions to suppress Shh signaling. We found that Ptch1(-/-);Ptch2(-/-) cells cannot further activate the Shh response, demonstrating that Ptch2 mediates the response to Shh in the absence of Ptch1.

Expansion of the Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion does not require bacterial replication.

Chlamydia trachomatis replication takes place inside of a host cell, exclusively within a vacuole known as the inclusion. During an infection, the inclusion expands to accommodate the increasing numbers of C. trachomatis. However, whether inclusion expansion requires bacterial replication and/or de novo protein synthesis has not been previously investigated in detail. Therefore, using a chemical biology approach, we herein investigated C. trachomatis inclusion expansion under varying conditions in vitro. Under normal cell culture conditions, inclusion expansion correlated with C. trachomatis replication. When bacterial replication was inhibited using KSK120, an inhibitor that targets C. trachomatis glucose metabolism, inclusions expanded even in the absence of bacterial replication. In contrast, when bacterial protein synthesis was inhibited using chloramphenicol, expansion of inclusions was blocked. Together, these data suggest that de novo protein synthesis is necessary, whereas bacterial replication is dispensable for C. trachomatis inclusion expansion.

Patched1 and Patched2 inhibit Smoothened non-cell autonomously.

Smoothened (Smo) inhibition by Patched (Ptch) is central to Hedgehog (Hh) signaling. Ptch, a proton driven antiporter, is required for Smo inhibition via an unknown mechanism. Hh ligand binding to Ptch reverses this inhibition and activated Smo initiates the Hh response. To determine whether Ptch inhibits Smo strictly in the same cell or also mediates non-cell-autonomous Smo inhibition, we generated genetically mosaic neuralized embryoid bodies (nEBs) from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). These experiments utilized novel mESC lines in which Ptch1, Ptch2, Smo, Shh and 7dhcr were inactivated via gene editing in multiple combinations, allowing us to measure non-cell autonomous interactions between cells with differing Ptch1/2 status. In several independent assays, the Hh response was repressed by Ptch1/2 in nearby cells. When 7dhcr was targeted, cells displayed elevated non-cell autonomous inhibition. These findings support a model in which Ptch1/2 mediate secretion of a Smo-inhibitory cholesterol precursor.