Target identification for a Hedgehog pathway inhibitor reveals the receptor GPR39

new small-molecule inhibitor of the Hedgehog signaling pathway acts independently of Smoothened (Smo). Rather than acting through Smo, which is a GPCR-like protein of the pathway, the compound acts through the orphan GPCR GPR39, with the level of GPR39 activation correlating with Hh pathway inhibition.