<p>This domain identifies a group of cysteine peptidases correspond to MEROPS peptidase family C46 (clan CH). The type example is the Hedgehog protein from <taxon tax_id="7227">Drosophila melanogaster</taxon> (Fruit fly). These are involved in intracellular signalling required for a variety of patterning events during development.</p><p>The hedgehog family of proteins self process by a cysteine-dependent mechanism, which is a one-time autolytic cleavage. It is differentiated from a typical peptidase reaction by the fact that the newly-formed carboxyl groupis esterified with cholesterol, rather than being left free. The three-dimensional structure of the autolytic domain of the hedgehog protein of D. melanogaster shows that it is formed from two divergent copies of amodule that also occurs in inteins, called a Hint domain [<cite idref="PUB00000956"/>,<cite idref="PUB00011705"/>].</p> Peptidase C46, hedgehog protein, hint region