Is TALPID3 a PCP Pathway Protein?

The TALPID3 gene is essential for normal development in chickens, mice and zebrafish. Embryos without normal TALPID3 function lack cilia and have associated developmental abnormalities such as polydactyly, a loss of ventral neurons and polycystic kidneys. Hedgehog signalling is defective in TALPID3-/- embryos due to an accumulation of cytoplasmic full length Gli proteins. TALPID3 is known to localise to the cytoskeleton and to the centrosome, an organelle essential for ciliogenesis. The cilia and centrosome are required for both Hedgehog and Wnt/PCP signalling. TALPID3 has traditionally been studied as a Hedgehog pathway mutant, but many of its phenotypes may also be classed as traits of a PCP pathway mutant.