A POLYPEPTIDE HAVING AN AMINO ACID SEQUENCE OF A HEDGEHOG POLYPEPTIDE OR A FRAGMENT DERIVED FROM THE AMINO TERMINAL OF THE HEDGEHOG POLYPEPTIDE, COMPRISING A STEROL MOIETY

摘要

The present invention provides two novel polypeptides, referred to as the 'N' and 'C' fragments of hedgehog, or N-terminal and C-terminal fragments, respectively, which are derived after specific cleavage at a G↓CF site recognized by the autoproteolytic domain in the native protein. Also included are sterol-modified hedgehog polypeptides and functional fragments thereof. Methods of identifying compositions which affect hedgehog activity based on inhibition of cholesterol modification of hedgehog protein are described.