Smoothened Proteins and Enzymes

Smoothened, a Frizzled Receptor, is homologous to the Drosophila segment polarity Smo gene. It associates with the Patched protein to mediate the cellular response to the Hedgehog secreted protein signal, which controls patterning and growth during vertebrate development. Smoothened is activated in a number of human tumors and can function as an oncogene in basal-cell carcinomas. Smoothened expression has been documented in bladder, blood, brain, the central nervous system, skin, and ureter. ESTs have been isolated from amnion, bone, brain, breast, embryo, eye, heart, nerve, and skin libraries.