cyclopamine

Cyclopamine (11-deoxojervine) is a naturally occurring steroidal alkaloid. It is a teratogenic component of corn lily (Veratrum californicum), which when consumed during gestation has been demonstrated to induce birth defects, including the development of a single eye (cyclopia) in offspring. The molecule was named after this effect, which was originally observed by Idaho lamb farmers in 1957 after their herds gave birth to cycloptic lambs. It then took more than a decade to identify corn lily as the culprit. Later work suggested that differing rain patterns had changed grazing behaviours, which led to a greater quantity of corn lily to be ingested by pregnant sheep. Cyclopamine interrupts the sonic hedgehog signalling pathway, instrumental in early development, ultimately causing birth defects.

== Discovery and naming == In 1957, Idaho sheep ranchers contacted the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) after their sheep gave birth to lambs with a fatal singular eye deformity. After collecting local flora and feeding them to mice, USDA scientists struggled to recreate the cyclopia. After a decade of trial and error, they came across wild corn lilies and advised the ranchers to avoid the corn lilies. Cyclopamine was discovered as one of three steroidal alkaloids isolated from Veratrum californicum and was named after its effects on sheep embryos. Four decades later, a team led by Professor Phillip Beachy linked the effect of cyclopamine to the sonic hedgehog gene. Cyclopia was induced through silencing the sonic hedgehog gene, suggesting Cyclopamine acted through a similar mechanism. thumb|Head of a lamb born by a sheep that consumed Veratrum californicum (California corn lily). [[Cyclopia is induced by the cyclopamine and other teratogenic alkaloids present in the plant.]]