Investigations On The Roles Of Hedgehog Pathway In Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Psoriasis

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is initiated by the secreted Hedgehog proteins. It plays an essential role in embryogenesis and differentiation. Mutations in hedgehog signaling pathway genes, especially Patched (Ptch) and Smoothened (Smo) lead to over-expression ofGLI-1 and other hedgehog target genes, resulting in various phenotypes, including holoprosencephaly, medullobalstoma, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, small cell lung cancer, nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, basal cell carcinoma, etc.The important role of Hedgehog signaling in the occurrence, progression and prognosis in BCC is well established, however, it is not certain that Hedgehog signaling plays an important role in other skin diseases charactered by hyper-proliferation of keratinocytes. Our study aimed at investigating the expression of the Ptch-1 and Gli-1 of Hedgehog signaling pathway in squamous cell carcinoma (representing malignant over-proliferation of keratinocytes) and psoriatic lesions (representing benign over-proliferation of keratinocytes), to observing the effect of cyclopamine, a specific inhibitor of Hedgehog signaling, on the morphology, growth and DNA synthesis of cultured keratinocytes, and to exploring the potential regulatory role of clinical and pathological significance of Hedgehog pathway in the pathogenesis, progression and treatment of squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) and psoriasis.