GLI1 and Familial prostate cancer: As SHH is an androgen repressed gene, it was found that prolonged exposure of LNCaP cells to androgen deprived conditions enables limited activation of autocrine HH-GLI signaling in response to HH ligands that are produced under these conditions, proposing a role of HH-GLI signaling in sustaining androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer cells9,29.