First published online October 27, 2004
Development 131, 2201e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Sending Notch signals from different compartments
The Notch signalling pathway is an evolutionary conserved mechanism that
regulates many cell-fate decisions. In the canonical pathway, the binding of
ligands to Notch at the cell surface activates this transmembrane protein by
releasing an intracellular domain from it, which translocates to the nucleus
where it acts as a co-activator for the DNA-binding protein Suppressor of
Hairless, Su(H). Hori and colleagues now describe how Deltex (Dx) – a
Drosophila E3 ubiquitin ligase – positively regulates Notch
signalling in the wing imaginal disc in a Su(H)-independent manner (see p.
5527). By examining a
series of fly mutants, the researchers show that Notch movement from the cell
surface to the late endosome requires Dx, and that this translocation is
essential for Dx-mediated activation of Su(H)-independent Notch signalling.
Thus, they conclude, two distinct signalling pathways downstream of a single
receptor are uniquely activated in different membrane-bound compartments.
Related articles in Development:
- Drosophila Deltex mediates Suppressor of Hairless-independent and late-endosomal activation of Notch signaling
- Kazuya Hori, Maggy Fostier, Mikiko Ito, Takashi J. Fuwa, Masahiro J. Go, Hideyuki Okano, Martin Baron, and Kenji Matsuno
Development 2004 131: 5527-5537.
[Abstract]
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