ArticlePLoS biology2025
In vivo sonic hedgehog pathway antagonism temporarily results in ancestral proto-feather-like structures in the chicken.
Article in PLoS biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Loss, persistence and reversal of phenotypic traits.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Simulation of reaction-diffusion equations with reaction-reaction analog circuits.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Research Progress on the Molecular Mechanism of Poultry Feather Follicle Development.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Exacerbated sonic hedgehog signalling promotes a transition from chemical pre-patterning of chicken reticulate scales to mechanical skin folding.Open biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The morphological intricacies of avian feathers make them an ideal model for investigating embryonic patterning and morphogenesis. In particular, the sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway is an important mediator of feather outgrowth and branching. However, functional in vivo evidence regarding its role during feather development remains limited. Here, we demonstrate that an intravenous injection of sonidegib, a potent Shh pathway inhibitor, at embryonic day 9 (E9) temporarily produces striped domains (instead of spots) of Shh expression in the skin, arrests morphogenesis, and results in unbranched and non-invaginated feather buds-akin to proto-feathers-in embryos until E14. Although feather morphogenesis partially recovers, hatched treated chickens exhibit naked skin regions with perturbed follicles. Remarkably, these follicles are subsequently reactivated by seven weeks post-hatching. Our RNA-sequencing data and rescue experiment using Shh-agonism confirm that sonidegib specifically down-regulates Shh pathway activity. Overall, we provide functional evidence for the role of the Shh pathway in mediating feather morphogenesis and confirm its role in the evolutionary emergence and diversification of feathers.
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Registered trials
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