Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is the best studied ligand of the vertebrate pathway. Most of what is known about hedgehog signaling has been established by studying SHH. It is translated as a ~45kDa precursor and undergoes autocatalytic processing (Process "1" on Figure 5) to produce an ~20kDa N-terminal signaling domain (referred to as SHH-N) and a ~25kDa C-terminal domain with no known signaling role. During the cleavage, a cholesterol molecule is added to the carboxyl end of the N-terminal domain, which is involved in trafficking, secretion and receptor interaction of the ligand. SHH can signal in an autocrine fashion, affecting the cells in which it is produced. Secretion and consequent paracrine hedgehog signaling require the participation of Dispatched (DISP) protein (Process "2" on Figure 5).