Notch1 is essential for postimplantation development in mice

Transient and restricted expression during mouse embryogenesis of Dll1, a murine gene closely related to Drosophila Delta

The Drosophila Delta (Dl) gene is essential for cell-cell communication regulating the determination of various cell fates during development. Dl encodes a transmembrane protein, which contains tandem arrays of epidermal-growth-factor-like repeats in the extracellular domain and directly interacts with Notch, another transmembrane protein with similar structural features, in a ligand-receptor-like manner. Similarly, cell-cell interactions involving Delta-like and Notch-like proteins are required for cell fate determinations in C. elegans. Notch homologues were also isolated from several vertebrate species, suggesting that cell-to-cell signaling mediated by Delta- and Notch-like proteins could also underlie cell fate determination during vertebrate development. However, in vertebrates, no Delta homologues have yet been described. We have isolated a novel mouse gene, Dll1 (delta-like gene 1), which maps to the mouse t-complex and whose deduced amino acid sequence strongly suggests that Dll1 represents a mammalian gene closely related to Drosophila Delta. Dll1 is transiently expressed during gastrulation and early organogenesis, and in a tissue-restricted manner in adult animals. Between day 7 and 12.5 of development, expression was detected in the paraxial mesoderm, closely correlated with somitogenesis, and in subsets of cells in the nervous system. In adult animals, transcripts were detected in lung and heart. Dll1 expression in the paraxial mesoderm and nervous system is strikingly similar to the expression of mouse Notch1 during gastrulation and early organogenesis. The overlapping expression patterns of the Dll1 and Notch1 genes suggest that cells in these tissues can communicate by interaction of the Dll1 and Notch1 proteins. Our results support the idea that Delta- and Notch-like proteins are involved in cell-to-cell communication in mammalian embryos and suggest a role for these proteins in cellular interactions underlying somitogenesis and development of the nervous system.

Expression of Notch 1, 2 and 3 is regulated by epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and retinoic acid in the developing mouse tooth and associated with determination of ameloblast cell fate

Notch 1, Notch 2, and Notch 3 are three highly conserved mammalian homologues of the Drosophila Notch gene, which encodes a transmembrane protein important for various cell fate decisions during development. Little is yet known about regulation of mammalian Notch gene expression, and this issue has been addressed in the developing rodent tooth during normal morphogenesis and after experimental manipulation. Notch 1, 2, and 3 genes show distinct cell-type specific expression patterns. Most notably, Notch expression is absent in epithelial cells in close contact with mesenchyme, which may be important for acquisition of the ameloblast fate. This reveals a previously unknown prepatterning of dental epithelium at early stages, and suggests that mesenchyme negatively regulates Notch expression in epithelium. This hypothesis has been tested in homo- and heterotypic explant experiments in vitro. The data show that Notch expression is downregulated in dental epithelial cells juxtaposed to mesenchyme, indicating that dental epithelium needs a mesenchyme-derived signal in order to maintain the downregulation of Notch. Finally, Notch expression in dental mesenchyme is upregulated in a region surrounding beads soaked in retinoic acid (50-100 micrograms/ml) but not in fibroblast growth factor-2 (100-250 micrograms/ml). The response to retinoic acid was seen in explants of 11-12-d old mouse embryos but not in older embryos. These data suggest that Notch genes may be involved in mediating some of the biological effects of retinoic acid during normal development and after teratogenic exposure.

Primary neurogenesis in Xenopus embryos regulated by a homologue of the Drosophila neurogenic gene Delta

X-Delta-1, a Xenopus homologue of the Drosophila Delta gene, is expressed in the early embryonic nervous system in scattered cells that appear to be the prospective primary neurons. Ectopic X-Delta-1 activity inhibits production of primary neurons and interference with endogenous X-Delta-1 activity results in overproduction of primary neurons. These results indicate that the X-Delta-1 protein mediates lateral inhibition delivered by prospective neurons to adjacent cells, and that commitment to a neural fate in vertebrates is regulated by Delta-Notch signalling as in Drosophila.

Determinants of blastomere identity in the early C. elegans embryo

Genetic and molecular studies of development in Caenorhabditis elegans have identified regulators that appear to control pattern formation in the cellularized nematode embryo. Two genes, skn-1 and pie-1, are required for specifying the different identities of two sister blastomeres in a 4-cell embryo, called P2 and EMS. The skn-1 gene encodes a DNA binding protein that may control blastomere development by regulating transcription in EMS and its descendants. ABa and ABp, the other two sisters in a 4-cell embryo, are influenced to develop differently by cell signaling events that require the two genes apx-1 and glp-1. In this review, I summarize evidence that some or all of these genes may encode embryonic determinants of blastomere identity.

Notch1 is required for the coordinate segmentation of somites

Members of the Notch family of transmembrane receptors mediate a number of developmental decisions in invertebrates. In order to study Notch function in a vertebrate organism, we have mutated the Notch1 gene of the mouse. Notch1 gene function is required for embryonic survival in the second half of gestation. In the first half of gestation, we have found no effect of the mutation on the normal programs of neurogenesis, myogenesis or apoptosis. We conclude that Notch1 function is not essential for these processes, at least in early postimplantation development. However, we have found that somitogenesis is delayed and disorganized in Notch1 mutant embryos. We propose that Notch1 normally coordinates the process of somitogenesis, and we provide a model of how this might occur.

Notch signaling

The Notch/Lin-12/Glp-1 receptor family mediates the specification of numerous cell fates during development in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans. Studies on the expression, mutant phenotypes, and developmental consequences of unregulated receptor activation have implicated these proteins in a general mechanism of local cell signaling, which includes interactions between equivalent cells and between different cell types. Genetic approaches in flies and worms have identified putative components of the signaling cascade, including a conserved family of extracellular ligands and two cellular factors that may associate with the Notch Intracellular domain. One factor, the Drosophila Suppressor of Hairless protein, is a DNA-binding protein, which suggests that Notch signaling may involve relatively direct signal transmission from the cell surface to the nucleus. Several vertebrate Notch receptors have also been discovered recently and play important roles in normal development and tumorigenesis.

Differential expression of Notch1 and Notch2 in developing and adult mouse brain

The Notch gene encodes a large transmembrane protein, and is required for the correct differentiation of both neural and non-neural tissues in Drosophila. Mammals have more than one Notch gene homolog, e.g. Notch1 and Notch2. Here, in order to determine the role of Notch genes in the mouse nervous system, we used in situ hybridization to study the expression of the Notch1 and -2 genes through mouse embryogenesis and into adulthood. The expression of Notch1 and Notch2 differed throughout development. Notch2 was expressed in the embryonic ventricular zone, the postnatal ependymal cells, and the choroid plexus throughout embryonic and postnatal development. Notch1 was also expressed in the ventricular zone between embryonic days 10 and 14, but its expression decreased gradually as embryos developed. The postnatal mouse brain strongly expressed Notch2, but not Notch1, in the granular cell layer of hippocampal dentate gyrus, where neurogenesis continues even in adult rodents. The most remarkable finding was the detection of a strong signal for Notch2 mRNA in two circumventricular organs: the subfornical organ and the area postrema. The receptor encoded by the Notch2 gene, which is located in these areas, may respond to unknown ligands in CSF. This putative receptor may participate in signal transduction by way of both neural and humoral links. These data suggest that Notch2, rather than Notch1, is related not only to development, but also to some postnatal functions of mouse central nervous system.

Jagged: a mammalian ligand that activates Notch1

Here we report the isolation of a rat cDNA clone, Jagged, which we show encodes a ligand for vertebrate Notch. Our conclusion is based on three observations. First, sequence analysis reveals substantial homology between Jagged and invertebrate ligands for the LIN-12/Notch proteins. Second, in situ hybridization of rat embryos identifies both distinct and overlapping patterns of gene expression for Jagged with those for Notch1, Notch2, and Notch3. Finally, the biological activity of Jagged was tested using a cell culture assay in which Jagged activates rat Notch1 expressed in myoblasts and prevents muscle cell differentiation. Our data support the hypothesis that Notch-ligand interactions function in maintaining mammalian cells in an undifferentiated state.

Death before birth: clues from gene knockouts and mutations

A survey of mouse gene knockouts, transgene insertions and spontaneous mutations that are lethal prenatally reveals that surprisingly few developmental disturbances lead to death of the embryo and early foetus. These disturbances include failure to establish and maintain a vascular circulation, and failure to make the transition from yolk-sac-based to liver-based haematopoiesis. The embryo must also establish gestation-dependent routes of nutritional interaction with the mother, including implantation, formation of a yolk-sac vascular circulation, and formation of a chorioallantoic placenta. A number of embryonic organ and body systems, including the central nervous system, gut, lungs, urogenital system and musculoskeletal system, appear to have little or no survival value in utero.

V(D)J recombination of immunoglobulin genes

We have constructed transgenic mice carrying an artificial substrate of V(D)J recombination. In this substrate, the only DNA fragments derived from Ig genes were short stretches of recombination signal sequences. This artificial substrate was rearranged at high frequency in lymphocytes, although in non-lymphoid cells no rearrangement was detected even by a sensitive PCR assay. This result indicates that the V(D)J recombination requires only the signal sequences and that a recombination similar to the V(D)J recombination does not occur in non-lymphoid tissues including the central nervous tissue. A protein binding to the V(D)J recombination signals was purified and its cDNA was cloned. This protein, termed RBP-J kappa, was initially considered to be involved in V(D)J recombination because of its DNA binding specificity and structural similarity to site-specific recombinases known as the integrase family. However, further study on the Drosophila homolog of RBP-J kappa indicated that RBP-J kappa probably functions as a transcription factor in the differentiation of the peripheral nervous tissues. The exact function of RBP-J kappa is still unknown. Analogous to the Drosophila gene, it is suggested that mouse RBP-J kappa participates in the regulation of differentiation of various tissues.

Epithelial transformation of metanephric mesenchyme in the developing kidney regulated by Wnt-4

The kidney has been widely exploited as a model system for the study of tissue inductions regulating vertebrate organogenesis. Kidney development is initiated by the ingrowth of the Wolfian duct-derived ureteric bud into the presumptive kidney mesenchyme. In response to a signal from the ureter, mesenchymal cells condense, aggregate into pretubular clusters and undergo an epithelial conversion generating a simple tubule. This then undergoes morphogenesis and is transformed into the excretory system of the kidney, the nephron. We report here that the expression of Wnt-4, which encodes a secreted glycoprotein, correlates with, and is required for, kidney tubulogenesis. Mice lacking Wnt-4 activity fail to form pretubular cell aggregates; however, other aspects of mesenchymal and ureteric development are unaffected. Thus, Wnt-4 appears to act as an autoinducer of the mesenchyme to epithelial transition that underlies nephron development.

The intracellular domain of mouse Notch: a constitutively activated repressor of myogenesis directed at the basic helix-loop-helix region of MyoD

We show that Myf-5 and mNotch mRNA are both present in the presomitic mesoderm before muscle cell commitment and before muscle structural gene activation. The failure of presomitic mesoderm to respond to Myf-5 and express myogenic properties implies that there may be a mechanism in presomitic mesoderm to suppress muscle differentiation. Here we show that ectopic expression of the intracellular domain of mNotch (mNotchIC) functions as a constitutively activated repressor of myogenesis both in cultured cells and in frog embryos. Mutagenesis experiments indicate that the target for inactivation by mNotch is the MyoD basic helix-loop-helix domain. mNotchIC contains a nuclear localization signal and localizes to the nucleus. Removal of the nuclear localization signal (NLS) reduces nuclear localization and diminishes the inhibition of myogenesis caused by Myf-5 or MyoD. Additional experiments show that the CDC10/SWI6/ankyrin repeats are also necessary for myogenic inhibition.

An activated Notch suppresses neurogenesis and myogenesis but not gliogenesis in mammalian cells

P19 cells, a mouse embryonal carcinoma line, can be induced to differentiate into neurons. After induction, however, only a small subpopulation of cells develop as neurons, suggesting that equipotent cells adopt different cell fates. In invertebrate systems, the lin-12-Notch family of genes is thought to control the choice of cell fate. We have therefore asked whether activation of murine Notch (mNotch) regulates neuronal differentiation in P19 cells. We demonstrate that a dominant gain-of-function mutant of mNotch suppresses neurogenesis, as well as myogenesis in P19 cells. Overexpression of the full-length mNotch protein also suppresses neurogenesis. In contrast, the differentiation of glia is not affected by an activated mNotch homologue. These data indicate that mNotch may play a central role in the choice of cell fate in differentiating cells in culture and suggests that mNotch may play a similar role in the choice of fate in the developing mammalian embryo.

Structure/function studies of lin-12/Notch proteins

The lin-12/Notch proteins appear to act as transmembrane receptors for intercellular signals that specify cell fates during animal development. Recent structure/function studies have shown that the lin-12/Notch intracellular domain alone has the intrinsic signal-transducing activity of the intact protein, and that the role of the extracellular domain is to regulate this intrinsic activity. These studies have also suggested that the different lin-12/Notch proteins in a given organism are interchangeable biochemically and have addressed the role of lin-12/Notch genes in development.