Orthologues of nearly all of the core components of the Hedgehog signalling pathway, defined originally through genetic analysis in Drosophila,have now been discovered in vertebrates and shown to have highly conserved functions. The one striking exception to this rule is the kinesin-like protein Costal2, which plays a central role in controlling the activity of the zinc-finger-containing transcriptional regulator, Cubitus interruptus that modulates all Hedgehog-dependent target gene expression, but whose involvement in Hedgehog signalling has not been demonstrated in vertebrates. We report the cloning of a kinesin-related gene from the zebrafish that in structure as well as function, appears to represent the first vertebrate orthologue of costal2. Using a combination of genetic and biochemical analysis, we provide evidence that as in Drosophila, zebrafish Costal2 acts principally as an intracellular repressor of signal transduction, in conjunction with Suppressor of Fused, another protein that negatively regulates signalling in Hedgehog-responsive cells.
History of our journals
As our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 years old, read about Development’s journey and highlights from some its first issues, and explore the history of each of our sister journals: Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
About us
Social media
