Hedgehog Signaling in Embryogenesis

Dear Colleagues,

It has been 36 years since the Hedgehog gene was discovered to play a central role in Drosophila embryogenesis, and 23 years since vertebrate homologs of Hedgehog were found to play equally crucial roles in vertebrate embryos. Early findings demonstrated important roles in neural tube and limb development, and later in the development of all organ systems and left/right asymmetry. Despite intense studies, important questions remain as to how cells respond to the Hedgehog ligands. The underlying mechanisms as to whether the Hedgehog responses cause alteration of gene expression, growth come pathfinding, or cell migration, remain unresolved, as does the precise mechanism by which the proton antiporter Ptch, which binds the Hh ligands, affects the activity and localization of Smo, a GPCR required for most, if not all, responses to Hh ligands. Hh signaling has been studied in a wide variety of protostome and deuterostome embryos, and this Special Issue of the Journal of Developmental Biology will provide an overview of the current standing of this large research field. Contributions can be reviews, as well as research papers, covering topics of Hh signaling during embryonic development.

Prof. Henk Roelink
Prof. Dr. Kay Grobe
Collection Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Developmental Biology is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.