101
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Macdonald SJ, Long AD. Identifying signatures of selection at the enhancer of split neurogenic gene complex in Drosophila. Mol Biol Evol 2004; 22:607-19. [PMID: 15537803 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msi046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Enhancer of split gene complex (E(spl)-C) is one of the more highly annotated gene regions in Drosophila, and the 12 genes within the complex help determine the spacing and patterning of adult bristles. Any E(spl)-C coding, transcribed, or cis-regulatory regions experiencing nonneutral evolution are strong candidates to harbor polymorphisms contributing to naturally occurring variation in bristle number. We confirm that the E(spl)-C is strongly conserved and show that 74% of regulatory elements previously identified in D. melanogaster are conserved in D. pseudoobscura. Regulatory elements in enhancer regions show lower nucleotide diversity and more rare polymorphisms compared with adjacent nonregulatory DNA, suggesting they are under purifying selection, and these effects are particularly pronounced when considering only conserved regulatory elements. The ratio of polymorphism to divergence was significantly different between binding sites and nonbinding sites for transcription factors within enhancer regions, suggesting the action of some form of selection. Too few polymorphisms in regions of the 3' UTR harboring regulatory motifs prevents adequate comparison of diversity and the polymorphism frequency spectrum between 3' UTR motif and nonmotif sequence. We identified at least two broad regions of the gene complex showing strong population subdivision among four populations, which is suggestive of local adaptation or background selection. Finally, two regions of the E(spl)-C exhibit low nucleotide diversity, a high level of rare polymorphisms, and an increase in linkage disequilibrium, which together suggest the action of positive selection. Notably, the gene m2 shows a significant deviation from neutrality by the McDonald-Kreitman test and resides in one of the two regions putatively experiencing a selective sweep. All sites in regions apparently visible to various selective forces are candidates for future work to determine their phenotypic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart J Macdonald
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, USA.
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102
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Karandikar UC, Trott RL, Yin J, Bishop CP, Bidwai AP. Drosophila CK2 regulates eye morphogenesis via phosphorylation of E(spl)M8. Mech Dev 2004; 121:273-86. [PMID: 15003630 DOI: 10.1016/j.mod.2004.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2003] [Revised: 12/19/2003] [Accepted: 01/06/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The Notch effector E(spl)M8 is phosphorylated at Ser159 by CK2, a highly conserved Ser/Thr protein kinase. We have used the Gal4-UAS system to assess the role of M8 phosphorylation during bristle and eye morphogenesis by employing a non-phosphorylatable variant (M8SA) or one predicted to mimic the 'constitutively' phosphorylated protein (M8SD). We find that phosphorylation of M8 does not appear to be critical during bristle morphogenesis. In contrast, only M8SD elicits a severe 'reduced eye' phenotype when it is expressed in the morphogenetic furrow of the eye disc. M8SD elicits neural hypoplasia in eye discs, elicits loss of phase-shifted Atonal-positive cells, i.e. the 'founding' R8 photoreceptors, and consequently leads to apoptosis. The ommatidial phenotype of M8SD is similar to that in Nspl/Y; E(spl)D/+ flies. E(spl)D, an allele of m8, encodes a truncated protein known as M8*, which, unlike wild type M8, displays exacerbated antagonism of Atonal via direct protein-protein interactions. In line with this, we find that the M8SD-Atonal interaction appears indistinguishable from that of M8*-Atonal, whereas interaction of M8 or M8SA appears marginal, at best. These results raise the possibility that phosphorylation of M8 (at Ser159) might be required for its ability to mediate 'lateral inhibition' within proneural clusters in the developing retina. This is the first identification of a dominant allele encoding a phosphorylation-site variant of an E(spl) protein. Our studies uncover a novel functional domain that is conserved amongst a subset of E(spl)/Hes repressors in Drosophila and mammals, and suggests a potential role for CK2 during retinal patterning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umesh C Karandikar
- Department of Biology, Life Sciences Building, P.O. Box 6057, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
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103
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Abstract
The principles underlying regeneration in planarians have been explored for over 100 years through surgical manipulations and cellular observations. Planarian regeneration involves the generation of new tissue at the wound site via cell proliferation (blastema formation), and the remodeling of pre-existing tissues to restore symmetry and proportion (morphallaxis). Because blastemas do not replace all tissues following most types of injuries, both blastema formation and morphallaxis are needed for complete regeneration. Here we discuss a proliferative cell population, the neoblasts, that is central to the regenerative capacities of planarians. Neoblasts may be a totipotent stem-cell population capable of generating essentially every cell type in the adult animal, including themselves. The population properties of the neoblasts and their descendants still await careful elucidation. We identify the types of structures produced by blastemas on a variety of wound surfaces, the principles guiding the reorganization of pre-existing tissues, and the manner in which scale and cell number proportions between body regions are restored during regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter W Reddien
- University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA.
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104
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Michellod MA, Forquignon F, Santamaria P, Randsholt NB. Differential requirements for the neurogenic gene almondex during Drosophila melanogaster development. Genesis 2004; 37:113-22. [PMID: 14595834 DOI: 10.1002/gene.10233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
During early development, the neurogenic genes of Drosophila melanogaster are involved in the control of cell fates in the neurectoderm; almondex (amx) belongs to this category of genes. We have identified the amx locus and rescued the amx embryonic neurogenic phenotype with a 1.5 kb DNA fragment. Using a small deficiency, we generated a new amx mutant background called amx(m), which is a null allele. Besides the characteristic neurogenic maternal effect caused by loss of amx, amx(m) flies display a new imaginal phenotype resembling loss of function of Notch. We describe amx-induced misregulation of the Notch pathway target E(spl) m7 in embryos and genetic interactions between amx and Notch pathway mutants in adult flies. These data show that wildtype amx acts as a novel positive regulator of the Notch pathway and is required at different levels during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Agnès Michellod
- Centre de Génétique Moléculaire du C.N.R.S., UPR 2167 CNRS, associée à l'Université de Paris 6, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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105
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Nagel AC, Maier D, Krauss S, Mezger M, Preiss A. Neurogenic phenotypes induced by RNA interference with bHLH genes of theEnhancer of splitcomplex ofDrosophila melanogaster. Genesis 2004; 39:105-14. [PMID: 15170696 DOI: 10.1002/gene.20033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The Enhancer of split gene complex [E(spl)-C] of Drosophila melanogaster harbors seven highly related genes encoding transcriptional regulators with a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) domain. They are activated by the Notch signaling pathway in order to inhibit proneural gene activity, for example, during neurogenesis in the developing embryo. The E(spl) proteins are at least partly redundant, despite some remarkable differences in their expression patterns. We attempted to address the degree of redundancy by means of RNA interference. We find a quantitative correlation between the degree of a neurogenic phenotype and the number of genes affected. Surprisingly, interference with m3 results in a high rate of mortality which cannot be reproduced by genetic mutation. Most likely, m3 dsRNA interferes with unrelated genes involved in other aspects of embryonic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anja C Nagel
- Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Genetik (240), Stuttgart, Germany
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106
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De Joussineau C, Soulé J, Martin M, Anguille C, Montcourrier P, Alexandre D. Delta-promoted filopodia mediate long-range lateral inhibition in Drosophila. Nature 2003; 426:555-9. [PMID: 14654840 DOI: 10.1038/nature02157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2003] [Accepted: 10/28/2003] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Drosophila thoracic mechanosensory bristles originate from cells that are singled out from 'proneural' groups of competent epithelial cells. Neural competence is restricted to individual sensory organ precursors (SOPs) by Delta/Notch-mediated 'lateral inhibition', whereas other cells in the proneural field adopt an epidermal fate. The precursors of the large macrochaetes differentiate separately from individual proneural clusters that comprise about 20-30 cells or as heterochronic pairs from groups of more than 100 cells, whereas the precursors of the small regularly spaced microchaetes emerge from even larger proneural fields. This indicates that lateral inhibition might act over several cell diameters; it was difficult to reconcile with the fact that the inhibitory ligand Delta is membrane-bound until the observation that SOPs frequently extend thin processes offered an attractive hypothesis. Here we show that the extension of these planar filopodia--a common attribute of wing imaginal disc cells--is promoted by Delta and that their experimental suppression reduces Notch signalling in distant cells and increases bristle density in large proneural groups, showing that these membrane specializations mediate long-range lateral inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyrille De Joussineau
- Laboratoire Dynamique Moléculaire des Interactions Membranaires, CNRS UMR 5539, Université Montpellier II C.C. 107, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France [corrected]
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107
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Wesley CS, Mok LP. Regulation of Notch signaling by a novel mechanism involving suppressor of hairless stability and carboxyl terminus-truncated notch. Mol Cell Biol 2003; 23:5581-93. [PMID: 12897132 PMCID: PMC166347 DOI: 10.1128/mcb.23.16.5581-5593.2003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Different amounts of Suppressor of Hairless (SuH)-dependent Notch (N) signaling is often used during animal development to produce two different tissues from a population of equipotent cells. During Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis, cells with high amounts of this signaling differentiate the larval epidermis whereas cells with low amounts, or none, differentiate the central nervous system (CNS). The mechanism by which SuH-dependent N signaling is increased or decreased in these different cells is obscure. The developing epidermis is known to get enriched for the full-length N (NFull) and the developing CNS for the carboxyl terminus-truncated N (NdeltaCterm). Results described here indicate that this differential accumulation of N receptors is part of a mechanism that would promote SuH-dependent N signaling in the developing epidermis but suppress it in the developing CNS. This mechanism involves SuH-dependent stability of NFull, NFull-dependent accumulation of SuH, stage specific stability of SuH, and NdeltaCterm-dependent loss of SuH and NFull.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cedric S Wesley
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA
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108
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Stollewerk A, Schoppmeier M, Damen WGM. Involvement of Notch and Delta genes in spider segmentation. Nature 2003; 423:863-5. [PMID: 12815430 DOI: 10.1038/nature01682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2003] [Accepted: 04/14/2003] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
It is currently debated whether segmentation in different animal phyla has a common origin and shares a common genetic mechanism. The apparent use of different genetic networks in arthropods and vertebrates has become a strong argument against a common origin of segmentation. Our knowledge of arthropod segmentation is based mainly on the insect Drosophila, in which a hierarchical cascade of transcription factors controls segmentation. The function of some of these genes seems to be conserved among arthropods, including spiders, but not vertebrates. The Notch pathway has a key role in vertebrate segmentation (somitogenesis) but is not involved in Drosophila body segmentation. Here we show that Notch and Delta genes are involved in segmentation of another arthropod, the spider Cupiennius salei. Expression patterns of Notch and Delta, coupled with RNA interference experiments, identify many similarities between spider segmentation and vertebrate somitogenesis. Our data indicate that formation of the segments in arthropods and vertebrates may have shared a genetic programme in a common ancestor and that parts of this programme have been lost in particular descendant lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelika Stollewerk
- Institute of Genetics, Evolutionary Genetics, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany
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109
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Nègre N, Ghysen A, Martinez AM. Mitotic G2-arrest is required for neural cell fate determination in Drosophila. Mech Dev 2003; 120:253-65. [PMID: 12559497 DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4773(02)00419-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In the wing discs of Drosophila, the mecanosensory precursor cells are singled out from clusters of cells blocked at the G2 phase of the cell cycle. This mitotic quiescence and the selection of the precursors are under strict spatio-temporal control. We forced G2 cells to enter mitosis by overexpression of string, the Drosophila homologue of the cdc25 gene. Premature entrance in the cell cycle is associated to a loss of precursor cells. Precursors are lost consecutively to a transcriptional down-regulation of the determinant proneural achaete/scute genes. This down-regulation results from an over-activation of the Enhancer of Split genes, known as effectors of the Notch signalling pathway. We conclude that exit from the cell cycle is required for proper neural cell fate determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Nègre
- Institut de Génétique Humaine, CNRS, 141 rue de la cardonille, 34396 Cedex 5, Montpellier, France
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110
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Fowlkes BJ, Robey EA. A reassessment of the effect of activated Notch1 on CD4 and CD8 T cell development. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2002; 169:1817-21. [PMID: 12165504 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.169.4.1817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The Notch signaling pathway plays an important role in the early steps of T cell development and in the generation of T cell tumors, but its role in the CD4 vs CD8 lineage decision is controversial. Notch1 is not essential for CD4 or CD8 T cell development; however, there are suggestions that multiple Notch family members may act in a redundant fashion during thymic development. In theory, expressing a constitutively activated form of Notch in CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocytes could provide clues about the normal role of Notch in developing CD4 and CD8 T cells. Unfortunately, two different studies of transgenic mice expressing activated forms of Notch1 (Notch1IC) led to conflicting conclusions. In this study, we re-examine the effect of the two Notch1IC transgenes on thymocyte development. We find that both Notch1IC transgenic lines display a decrease in CD4 single positive (SP) thymocytes and a corresponding increase in CD8 SP thymocytes. The enhanced development of CD8 SP thymocytes is dependent on either class I or II MHC. Thus, data from two different Notch1IC transgenic lines indicate that Notch activity promotes CD8 and inhibits CD4 SP development. We suggest that the discrepancies in previous reports of Notch1IC transgenic mice are due to differences in the propensity of the two different transgenic lines to develop tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- B J Fowlkes
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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111
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Rebeiz M, Reeves NL, Posakony JW. SCORE: a computational approach to the identification of cis-regulatory modules and target genes in whole-genome sequence data. Site clustering over random expectation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99:9888-93. [PMID: 12107285 PMCID: PMC125053 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.152320899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2002] [Accepted: 05/23/2002] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A large fraction of the information content of metazoan genomes resides in the transcriptional and posttranscriptional cis-regulatory elements that collectively provide the blueprint for using the protein-coding capacity of the DNA, thus guiding the development and physiology of the entire organism. As successive whole-genome sequencing projects--including those of mice and humans--are completed, we have full access to the regulatory genome of yet another species. But our ability to decipher the cis-regulatory code, and hence to link genes into regulatory networks on a global scale, is currently very limited. Here we describe SCORE (Site Clustering Over Random Expectation), a computational method for identifying transcriptional cis-regulatory modules based on the fact that they often contain, in statistically improbable concentrations, multiple binding sites for the same transcription factor. We have carried out a Drosophila genomewide inventory of predicted binding sites for the Notch-regulated transcription factor Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)] and found that the fly genome contains highly nonrandom clusterings of Su(H) sites over a broad range of sequence intervals. We found that the most statistically significant clusters are very heavily enriched in both known and logical targets of Su(H) binding and regulation. The utility of the SCORE approach was validated by in vivo experiments showing that proper expression of the novel gene Him in adult muscle precursor cells depends both on Su(H) gene activity and sequences that include a previously unstudied cluster of four Su(H) sites, indicating that Him is a likely direct target of Su(H).
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Rebeiz
- Division of Biological Sciences, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0349, USA
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112
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Brennan J, Karl J, Capel B. Divergent vascular mechanisms downstream of Sry establish the arterial system in the XY gonad. Dev Biol 2002; 244:418-28. [PMID: 11944948 DOI: 10.1006/dbio.2002.0578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Although the primitive vasculature is identical in XX and XY genital ridges until 11.5 days postcoitum (dpc), by 12.5 dpc the XY gonad develops a distinct vasculature. This male-specific vasculature, which includes the development of a large coelomic vessel, develops coincident with expression of Sry and formation of testis cords. We show that similar levels of proliferation and vasculogenesis expand the primary vasculature in XX and XY gonads. However, soon after Sry expression begins, the XY gonad recruits a large number of endothelial cells from the adjacent mesonephros, a mechanism totally absent in XX gonads. These migrating cells do not contribute to venous or lymphatic development. Instead, these cells contribute to the arterial system, as indicated by expression of ephrinB2 and by elements of the Notch signaling pathway. This newly formed arterial system establishes a new pattern of blood flow in the XY gonad, which we speculate may have an important role in export of testosterone to masculinize the XY embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Brennan
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
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113
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Baker NE. NOTCH and the patterning of ommatidial founder cells in the developing Drosophila eye. Results Probl Cell Differ 2002; 37:35-58. [PMID: 25707068 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-45398-7_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas E Baker
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
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114
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Davis RL, Turner DL. Vertebrate hairy and Enhancer of split related proteins: transcriptional repressors regulating cellular differentiation and embryonic patterning. Oncogene 2001; 20:8342-57. [PMID: 11840327 DOI: 10.1038/sj.onc.1205094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 305] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins are a superfamily of DNA-binding transcription factors that regulate numerous biological processes in both invertebrates and vertebrates. One family of bHLH transcriptional repressors is related to the Drosophila hairy and Enhancer-of-split proteins. These repressors contain a tandem arrangement of the bHLH domain and an adjacent sequence known as the Orange domain, so we refer to these proteins as bHLH-Orange or bHLH-O proteins. Phylogenetic analysis reveals the existence of four bHLH-O subfamilies, with distinct, evolutionarily conserved features. A principal function of bHLH-O proteins is to bind to specific DNA sequences and recruit transcriptional corepressors to inhibit target gene expression. However, it is likely that bHLH-O proteins repress transcription by additional mechanisms as well. Many vertebrate bHLH-O proteins are effectors of the Notch signaling pathway, and bHLH-O proteins are involved in regulating neurogenesis, vasculogenesis, mesoderm segmentation, myogenesis, and T lymphocyte development. In this review, we discuss mechanisms of action and biological roles for the vertebrate bHLH-O proteins, as well as some of the unresolved questions about the functions and regulation of these proteins during development and in human disease.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
- Blood Vessels/cytology
- Blood Vessels/embryology
- Cell Differentiation/genetics
- Cell Differentiation/physiology
- Cell Lineage
- Cell Transformation, Neoplastic/genetics
- DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics
- DNA-Binding Proteins/physiology
- Dimerization
- Drosophila Proteins/genetics
- Drosophila Proteins/physiology
- Drosophila melanogaster/embryology
- Drosophila melanogaster/genetics
- Drosophila melanogaster/physiology
- Embryonic and Fetal Development/genetics
- Embryonic and Fetal Development/physiology
- Evolution, Molecular
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/genetics
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/physiology
- Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs
- Humans
- Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell/genetics
- Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell/pathology
- Membrane Proteins/genetics
- Membrane Proteins/physiology
- Mesoderm/cytology
- Mice
- Mice, Knockout
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Morphogenesis/genetics
- Morphogenesis/physiology
- Multigene Family
- Muscles/cytology
- Muscles/embryology
- Neovascularization, Physiologic/genetics
- Neovascularization, Physiologic/physiology
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/physiology
- Nervous System/embryology
- Neurons/cytology
- Phylogeny
- Protein Structure, Tertiary
- Proteins/genetics
- Proteins/physiology
- Receptors, Notch
- Repressor Proteins/genetics
- Repressor Proteins/physiology
- Sequence Alignment
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Terminology as Topic
- Transcription Factors
- Transcription, Genetic
- Vertebrates/embryology
- Vertebrates/genetics
- Vertebrates/physiology
- Xenopus Proteins
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Affiliation(s)
- R L Davis
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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115
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Renaud O, Simpson P. scabrous modifies epithelial cell adhesion and extends the range of lateral signalling during development of the spaced bristle pattern in Drosophila. Dev Biol 2001; 240:361-76. [PMID: 11784069 DOI: 10.1006/dbio.2001.0482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The role of scabrous (sca) in the evenly spaced bristle pattern of Drosophila is explored. Loss-of-function of sca results in development of an excess of bristles. Segregation of alternately spaced bristle precursors and epidermal cells from a group of equipotential cells relies on lateral inhibition mediated by Notch and Delta (Dl). In this process, presumptive bristle precursors inhibit the neural fate of neighbouring cells, causing them to adopt the epidermal fate. We show that Dl, a membrane-bound ligand for Notch, can inhibit adjacent cells, in direct contact with the precursor, in the absence of Sca. In contrast, inhibition of cells not adjacent to the precursor requires, in addition, Sca, a secreted molecule with a fibrinogen-related domain. Over-expression of Sca in a wild-type background, leads to increased spacing between bristles, suggesting that the range of signalling has been increased. scabrous acts nonautonomously, and we present evidence that, during bristle precursor segregation, Sca is required to maintain the normal adhesive properties of epithelial cells. The possible effects of such changes on the range of signalling are discussed. We also show that the sensory organ precursors extend numerous fine cytoplasmic extensions bearing Dl molecules, and speculate on a possible role for these structures during signalling.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Renaud
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS/INSERM/ULP, BP 163, 67404 Illkirch Cedex, C.U. de Strasbourg, France
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116
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Pavlopoulos E, Pitsouli C, Klueg KM, Muskavitch MA, Moschonas NK, Delidakis C. neuralized Encodes a peripheral membrane protein involved in delta signaling and endocytosis. Dev Cell 2001; 1:807-16. [PMID: 11740942 DOI: 10.1016/s1534-5807(01)00093-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 214] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Activation of the Notch (N) receptor involves an intracellular proteolytic step triggered by shedding of the extracellular N domain (N-EC) upon ligand interaction. The ligand Dl has been proposed to effect this N-EC shedding by transendocytosing the latter into the signal-emitting cell. We find that Dl endocytosis and N signaling are greatly stimulated by expression of neuralized (neur). neur inactivation suppresses Dl endocytosis, while its overexpression enhances Dl endocytosis and Notch-dependent signaling. We show that neur encodes an intracellular peripheral membrane protein. Its C-terminal RING domain is necessary for Dl accumulation in endosomes, but may be dispensable for Dl signaling. The potent modulatory effect of Neur on Dl activity makes Neur a candidate for establishing signaling asymmetries within cellular equivalence groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Pavlopoulos
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Crete, Greece
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117
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Vollrath B, Fitzgerald KJ, Leder P. A murine homologue of the Drosophila brainiac gene shows homology to glycosyltransferases and is required for preimplantation development of the mouse. Mol Cell Biol 2001; 21:5688-97. [PMID: 11463849 PMCID: PMC87289 DOI: 10.1128/mcb.21.16.5688-5697.2001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The neurogenic gene brainiac was first isolated in Drosophila melanogaster, where it interacts genetically with members of the Notch signaling cascade. We have isolated a murine homologue of the Drosophila brainiac gene and delineated its highly specific expression pattern during development and adult life. We find particularly strong expression in the developing central nervous system, in the developing retina, and in the adult hippocampus. Targeted deletion of mouse Brainiac 1 expression leads to embryonic lethality prior to implantation. Null embryos can be recovered as blastocysts but do not appear to implant, indicating that mouse Brainiac 1, likely a glycosyltransferase, is crucial for very early development of the mouse embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Vollrath
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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118
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Lai EC, Rubin GM. Neuralized is essential for a subset of Notch pathway-dependent cell fate decisions during Drosophila eye development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2001; 98:5637-42. [PMID: 11344304 PMCID: PMC33265 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.101135498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuralized (neur) is a neurogenic mutant of Drosophila in which many signaling events mediated by the Notch (N) receptor are disrupted. Here, we analyze the role of neur during eye development. Neur is required in a cell-autonomous fashion to restrict R8 and other photoreceptor fates and is involved in lateral inhibition of interommatidial bristles but is not required for induction of the cone cell fate. The latter contrasts with the absolute requirement for Suppressor of Hairless and the Enhancer of split-Complex for cone cell induction. Using gain-of-function experiments, we further demonstrate that ectopic wild-type and truncated Neur proteins can interfere with multiple N-controlled aspects of eye development, including both neur-dependent and neur-independent processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Lai
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, 539 Life Sciences Addition, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA.
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119
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Yang L, Baker NE. Role of the EGFR/Ras/Raf pathway in specification of photoreceptor cells in the Drosophila retina. Development 2001; 128:1183-91. [PMID: 11245584 DOI: 10.1242/dev.128.7.1183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The Drosophila EGF receptor is required for differentiation of many cell types during eye development. We have used mosaic analysis with definitive null mutations to analyze the effects of complete absence of EGFR, Ras or Raf proteins during eye development. The Egfr, ras and raf genes are each found to be essential for recruitment of R1-R7 cells. In addition Egfr is autonomously required for MAP kinase activation. EGFR is not essential for R8 cell specification, either alone or redundantly with any other receptor that acts through Ras or Raf, or by activating MAP kinase. As with Egfr, loss of ras or raf perturbs the spacing and arrangement of R8 precursor cells. R8 cell spacing is not affected by loss of argos in posteriorly juxtaposed cells, which rules out a model in which EGFR acts through argos expression to position R8 specification in register between adjacent columns of ommatidia. The R8 spacing role of the EGFR was partially affected by simultaneous deletion of spitz and vein, two ligand genes, but the data suggest that EGFR activation independent of spitz and vein is also involved. The results prove that R8 photoreceptors are specified and positioned by distinct mechanisms from photoreceptors R1-R7.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Yang
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
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120
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Abstract
Suppressor of Hairless (Su(H)) is a DNA-binding protein component of the Notch signalling pathway, thought to be required, with a fragment of the Notch receptor, for target gene activation. Recent studies show that this is only one side of the story: target gene enhancers may be regulated by Su(H) in a variety of different ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Bray
- Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3DY, Cambridge, UK.
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121
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Li Y, Baker NE. Proneural enhancement by Notch overcomes Suppressor-of-Hairless repressor function in the developing Drosophila eye. Curr Biol 2001; 11:330-8. [PMID: 11267869 DOI: 10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00093-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The receptor protein Notch plays a conserved role in restricting neural-fate specification during lateral inhibition. Lateral inhibition requires the Notch intracellular domain to coactivate Su(H)-mediated transcription of the Enhancer-of-split Complex. During Drosophila eye development, Notch plays an additional role in promoting neural fate independently of Su(H) and E(spl)-C, and this finding suggests an alternative mechanism of Notch signal transduction. RESULTS We used genetic mosaics to analyze the proneural enhancement pathway. As in lateral inhibition, the metalloprotease Kuzbanian, the EGF repeat 12 region of the Notch extracellular domain, Presenilin, and the Notch intracellular domain were required. By contrast, proneural enhancement became constitutive in the absence of Su(H), and this led to premature differentiation and upregulation of the Atonal and Senseless proteins. Ectopic Notch signaling by Delta expression ahead of the morphogenetic furrow also caused premature differentiation. CONCLUSIONS Proneural enhancement and lateral inhibition use similar ligand binding and receptor processing but differ in the nuclear role of Su(H). Prior to Notch signaling, Su(H) represses neural development directly, not indirectly through E(spl)-C. During proneural enhancement, the Notch intracellular domain overcomes the repression of neural differentiation. Later, lateral inhibition restores the repression of neural development by a different mechanism, requiring E(spl)-C transcription. Thus, Notch restricts neurogenesis temporally to a narrow time interval between two modes of repression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Li
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
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122
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Yao J, Lai E, Stifani S. The winged-helix protein brain factor 1 interacts with groucho and hes proteins to repress transcription. Mol Cell Biol 2001; 21:1962-72. [PMID: 11238932 PMCID: PMC86788 DOI: 10.1128/mcb.21.6.1962-1972.2001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain factor 1 (BF-1) is a winged-helix transcriptional repressor that plays important roles in both progenitor cell differentiation and regional patterning in the mammalian telencephalon. The aim of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying BF-1 functions. It is shown here that BF-1 interacts in vivo with global transcriptional corepressors of the Groucho family and also associates with the histone deacetylase 1 protein. The ability of BF-1 to mediate transcriptional repression is promoted by Groucho and inhibited by the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A, suggesting that BF-1 recruits Groucho and histone deacetylase activities to repress transcription. Our studies also provide the first demonstration that Groucho mediates a specific interaction between BF-1 and the basic helix-loop-helix protein Hes1 and that BF-1 potentiates transcriptional repression by Hes1 in a Groucho-dependent manner. These findings suggest that Groucho participates in the transcriptional functions of BF-1 by acting as both a corepressor and an adapter between BF-1 and Hes1. Taken together with the demonstration that these proteins are coexpressed in telencephalic neural progenitor cells, these results also suggest that complexes of BF-1, Groucho, and Hes factors may be involved in the regulation of progenitor cell differentiation in the telencephalon.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Yao
- Center for Neuronal Survival, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
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123
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Morimura T, Miyatani S, Kitamura D, Goitsuka R. Notch signaling suppresses IgH gene expression in chicken B cells: implication in spatially restricted expression of Serrate2/Notch1 in the bursa of Fabricius. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2001; 166:3277-83. [PMID: 11207282 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.166.5.3277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The bursa of Fabricius is a central organ for chicken B cell development and provides an essential microenvironment for expansion of the B cell pool and for generation of a diversified B cell repertoire. We report here that genes encoding the Notch family of transmembrane proteins, key regulators of cell fate determination in development, are differentially expressed in the bursa of Fabricius: Notch1 is expressed in medullary B cells located close to the basement membrane-associated epithelium (BMAE). In contrast, a Notch ligand, Serrate2, is expressed exclusively in the BMAE, which surrounds bursal medulla. A basic helix-loop-helix-type transcription factor, Hairy1, a downstream target of Notch signaling, is expressed in the bursa coordinately with Notch1 and Serrate2 and an immature B cell line, TLT1, which expresses both Notch1 and Serrate2. Furthermore, stable expression of a constitutively active form of chicken Notch1 or Notch2 in a B cell line results in a down-regulation of surface IgM expression, which is accompanied by the reduction of IgH gene transcripts. Transient reporter assay with the human IgH gene intronic enhancer reveals that an active form of Notch1 inhibits the IgH enhancer activity in chicken B cells, suggesting that Notch-mediated signals suppress the IgH gene expression via influencing the IgH intronic enhancer. These findings raise the possibility that the local activation of Notch1 in a subset of B cells by Serrate2 expressed in BMAE may influence the cell fate decision that is involved in B cell differentiation and selection inside the bursa.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Morimura
- Division of Molecular Biology, Research Institute for Biological Sciences, Science University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
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124
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Affiliation(s)
- J P Kumar
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322-3030, USA
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125
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Powell PA, Wesley C, Spencer S, Cagan RL. Scabrous complexes with Notch to mediate boundary formation. Nature 2001; 409:626-30. [PMID: 11214322 DOI: 10.1038/35054566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms that establish and sharpen pattern across epithelia are poorly understood. In the developing nervous system, the first pattern elements appear as 'proneural clusters' In the morphogenetic furrow of the immature Drosophila retina proneural clusters emerge in a wave as a patterned array of 6-10-cell groups, which are recognizable by expression of Atonal, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that is required to establish and pattern the first cell fate. The establishment and subsequent patterning of Atonal expression requires activity of the signalling transmembrane receptor Notch. Here we present in vivo and biochemical evidence that the secreted protein Scabrous associates with Notch, and can stabilize Notch protein at the surface. The result is a regulation of Notch activity that sharpens proneural cluster boundaries and ensures establishment of single pioneer neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- P A Powell
- Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
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126
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Kishi N, Tang Z, Maeda Y, Hirai A, Mo R, Ito M, Suzuki S, Nakao K, Kinoshita T, Kadesch T, Hui C, Artavanis-Tsakonas S, Okano H, Matsuno K. Murine homologs of deltex define a novel gene family involved in vertebrate Notch signaling and neurogenesis. Int J Dev Neurosci 2001; 19:21-35. [PMID: 11226752 DOI: 10.1016/s0736-5748(00)00071-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Notch signaling plays an important role in cell-fate specification in multicellular organisms by regulating cell-cell communication. The Drosophila deltex gene encodes a modulator of the Notch pathway that has been shown to interact physically with the Ankyrin repeats of Notch. We isolated four distinct cDNAs corresponding to mouse homologs of deltex - mouse Deltex1 (MDTX1), mouse Deltex2 (MDTX2), mouse Deltex2DeltaE (MDTX2DeltaE), and mouse Deltex3 (MDTX3). Deduced amino acid sequences of these four cDNAs showed a high degree of similarity to Drosophila Deltex and its human homolog, DTX1 throughout their lengths, even though they possess distinct structural features. MDTX proteins formed homotypic and heterotypic multimers. We found that these genes were expressed in the central, peripheral nervous system and in the thymus, overlapping with those of mouse Notch1. In mammalian tissue culture cells, overexpression of any of the four mouse deltex homologs suppressed the transcriptional activity of E47, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein, in a manner similar to suppression by an activated form of human Notch1 or human DTX1. In addition, overexpression of MDTX2 and MDTX2DeltaE in C2C12 cells under differentiation-inducing conditions suppressed the expression of myogenin, one of the myogenic transcriptional factors; this was also similar to a previously reported activity of constitutively activated Notch. Furthermore, misexpression of any of the MDTX genes in Xenopus embryos resulted in an expansion of the region expressing the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) gene, a marker for the neuroepithelium. Collectively, our results suggest that these mouse deltex homologs are involved in vertebrate Notch signaling and regulation of neurogenesis.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Carrier Proteins
- Cell Differentiation/genetics
- Cell Lineage/genetics
- Cells, Cultured/cytology
- Cells, Cultured/metabolism
- DNA, Complementary/chemistry
- DNA, Complementary/isolation & purification
- DNA, Complementary/metabolism
- Drosophila Proteins
- Drosophila melanogaster/genetics
- Drosophila melanogaster/metabolism
- Embryo, Mammalian/cytology
- Embryo, Mammalian/embryology
- Embryo, Mammalian/metabolism
- Embryo, Nonmammalian
- Female
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/genetics
- Insect Proteins/genetics
- Insect Proteins/metabolism
- Membrane Proteins/genetics
- Membrane Proteins/metabolism
- Mice
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Nervous System/cytology
- Nervous System/embryology
- Nervous System/metabolism
- Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules/metabolism
- Neurons/cytology
- Neurons/metabolism
- Phenotype
- Proteins/genetics
- Proteins/metabolism
- RNA, Messenger/pharmacology
- Receptors, Notch
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Signal Transduction/genetics
- Thymus Gland/cytology
- Thymus Gland/embryology
- Thymus Gland/metabolism
- Tubulin/metabolism
- Xenopus laevis/embryology
- Xenopus laevis/genetics
- Xenopus laevis/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- N Kishi
- Division of Neuroanatomy, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedical Research Center, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, 565-0871, Osaka, Japan
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127
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Trott RL, Kalive M, Paroush Z, Bidwai AP. Drosophila melanogaster casein kinase II interacts with and phosphorylates the basic helix-loop-helix proteins m5, m7, and m8 derived from the Enhancer of split complex. J Biol Chem 2001; 276:2159-67. [PMID: 11208814 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m005996200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster casein kinase II (DmCKII) is composed of catalytic (alpha) and regulatory (beta) subunits associated as an alpha2beta2 heterotetramer. Using the two-hybrid system, we have screened a D. melanogaster embryo cDNA library for proteins that interact with DmCKIIalpha. One of the cDNAs isolated in this screen encodes m7, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)-type transcription factor encoded by the Enhancer of split complex (E(spl)C), which regulates neurogenesis. m7 interacts with DmCKIIalpha but not with DmCKIIbeta, suggesting that this interaction is specific for the catalytic subunit of DmCKII. In addition to m7, we demonstrate that DmCKIIalpha also interacts with two other E(spl)C-derived bHLH proteins, m5 and m8, but not with other members, such as m3 and mC. Consistent with the specificity observed for the interaction of DmCKIIalpha with these bHLH proteins, sequence alignment suggests that only m5, m7, and m8 contain a consensus site for phosphorylation by CKII within a subdomain unique to these three proteins. Accordingly, these three proteins are phosphorylated by DmCKIIalpha, as well as by the alpha2beta2 holoenzyme purified from Drosophila embryos. In line with the prediction of a single consensus site for CKII, replacement of Ser(159) of m8 with either Ala or Asp abolishes phosphorylation, identifying this residue as the site of phosphorylation. We also demonstrate that m8 forms a direct physical complex with purified DmCKII, corroborating the observed two-hybrid interaction between these proteins. Finally, substitution of Ser(159) of m8 with Ala attenuates interaction with DmCKIIalpha, whereas substitution with Asp abolishes the interaction. These studies constitute the first demonstration that DmCKII interacts with and phosphorylates m5, m7, and m8 and suggest a biochemical and/or structural basis for the functional equivalency of these bHLH proteins that is observed in the context of neurogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- R L Trott
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6057, USA
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128
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McLarren KW, Theriault FM, Stifani S. Association with the nuclear matrix and interaction with Groucho and RUNX proteins regulate the transcription repression activity of the basic helix loop helix factor Hes1. J Biol Chem 2001; 276:1578-84. [PMID: 11035023 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m007629200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Hairy/Enhancer of split 1 (Hes1) is a mammalian transcriptional repressor that plays crucial roles in the regulation of several developmental processes, including neuronal differentiation. The aim of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that regulate the transcription repression activity of Hes1. It is shown here that Hes1 associates with the nuclear matrix, the ribonucleoprotein network of the nucleus that plays important roles in transcriptional regulation. Nuclear matrix binding is mediated by the same Hes1 C-terminal domain that is also required for transcriptional repression. This domain contains the WRPW motif that acts as a binding site for the transcriptional corepressor Groucho, which also localizes to the nuclear matrix. Both the nuclear matrix association and transcription repression activity of Hes1 are inhibited by deletion of the WRPW motif, indicating that Groucho acts as a transcriptional corepressor for Hes1. This corepressor role is not modulated by the Groucho-related gene product Grg5. In contrast, the Runt-related protein RUNX2, which localizes to the nuclear matrix and interacts with Groucho and Hes1, can inhibit both the Groucho.Hes1 interaction and the transcription repression ability of Hes1. Together, these observations suggest that transcriptional repression by Hes1 requires interactions with Groucho at the nuclear matrix and that RUNX proteins act as negative regulators of the repressive activity of Groucho.Hes1 complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- K W McLarren
- Center for Neuronal Survival, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
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129
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Abstract
Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)] is a DNA-binding protein that is the main intracellular transducer of the Notch signaling pathway in Drosophila. Several different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the activation of Su(H) by Notch. To further investigate how Su(H) activity is regulated we have used misexpression assays with wild-type Su(H) and with modified forms of Su(H) that contained a nuclear localization signal [Su(H)NLS], a transcriptional activation domain [Su(H)VP16], or a deletion of the domain required for interaction with the antagonist Hairless [Su(H)DeltaH]. Only Su(H)VP16 was able to mimic Notch activation effectively in the Drosophila wing, in agreement with the model that Notch activity normally confers coactivator function on Su(H). Neither nuclear localization nor elimination of Hairless binding was sufficient for activation. The phenotypes produced by overexpression of Su(H)wt and Su(H)NLS indicated a mixture of both increased and reduced Notch pathway activity and point to a role for Su(H) in both activation and repression of gene expression, as has been proposed for the mammalian homologue CBF1. Some phenotypes were equivalent to Notch loss-of-function, with wing-nicks and inhibition of a subset of target genes, which is most consistent with the ectopic proteins displacing a Su(H)-coactivator complex. Conversely, other phenotypes were equivalent to Notch gain-of-function, with wing-overgrowths and ectopic target-gene expression. These effects can be explained by the ectopic Su(H)/Su(H)NLS titrating a repressor complex. The wing-overgrowth phenotype is sensitive to the dose of Hairless and the phenotypes produced by coexpressing Su(H) and Hairless suggest that Hairless could form a component of this repressive complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Furriols
- Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, United Kingdom
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130
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Hallam S, Singer E, Waring D, Jin Y. The C. elegans NeuroD homolog cnd-1 functions in multiple aspects of motor neuron fate specification. Development 2000; 127:4239-52. [PMID: 10976055 DOI: 10.1242/dev.127.19.4239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor NeuroD (Neurod1) has been implicated in neuronal fate determination, differentiation and survival. Here we report the expression and functional analysis of cnd-1, a C. elegans NeuroD homolog. cnd-1 expression was first detected in neuroblasts of the AB lineage in 14 cell embryos and maintained in many neuronal descendants of the AB lineage during embryogenesis, diminishing in most terminally differentiated neurons prior to hatching. Specifically, cnd-1 reporter genes were expressed in the precursors of the embryonic ventral cord motor neurons and their progeny. A loss-of-function mutant, cnd-1(ju29), exhibited multiple defects in the ventral cord motor neurons. First, the number of motor neurons was reduced, possibly caused by the premature withdrawal of the precursors from mitotic cycles. Second, the strict correlation between the fate of a motor neuron with respect to its lineage and position in the ventral cord was disrupted, as manifested by the variable expression pattern of motor neuron fate specific markers. Third, motor neurons also exhibited defects in terminal differentiation characteristics including axonal morphology and synaptic connectivity. Finally, the expression patterns of three neuronal type-specific transcription factors, unc-3, unc-4 and unc-30, were altered. Our data suggest that cnd-1 may specify the identity of ventral cord motor neurons both by maintaining the mitotic competence of their precursors and by modulating the expression of neuronal type-specific determination factors. cnd-1 appears to have combined the functions of several vertebrate neurogenic bHLH proteins and may represent an ancestral form of this protein family.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Hallam
- Department of Biology, Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
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131
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Klein T, Seugnet L, Haenlin M, Martinez Arias A. Two different activities of Suppressor of Hairless during wing development in Drosophila. Development 2000; 127:3553-66. [PMID: 10903180 DOI: 10.1242/dev.127.16.3553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The Notch pathway plays a crucial and universal role in the assignation of cell fates during development. In Drosophila, Notch is a transmembrane protein that acts as a receptor of two ligands Serrate and delta. The current model of Notch signal transduction proposes that Notch is activated upon binding its ligands and that this leads to the cleavage and release of its intracellular domain (also called Nintra). Nintra translocates to the nucleus where it forms a dimeric transcription activator with the Su(H) protein. In contrast with this activation model, experiments with the vertebrate homologue of Su(H), CBF1, suggest that, in vertebrates, Nintra converts CBF1 from a repressor into an activator. Here we have assessed the role of Su(H) in Notch signalling during the development of the wing of Drosophila. Our results show that, during this process, Su(H) can activate the expression of some Notch target genes and that it can do so without the activation of the Notch pathway or the presence of Nintra. In contrast, the activation of other Notch target genes requires both Su(H) and Nintra, and, in the absence of Nintra, Su(H) acts as a repressor. We also find that the Hairless protein interacts with Notch signalling during wing development and inhibits the activity of Su(H). Our results suggest that, in Drosophila, the activation of Su(H) by Notch involve the release of Su(H) from an inhibitory complex, which contains the Hairless protein. After its release Su(H) can activate gene expression in absence of Nintra.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Klein
- Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 121, Germany.
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132
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Nolo R, Abbott LA, Bellen HJ. Senseless, a Zn finger transcription factor, is necessary and sufficient for sensory organ development in Drosophila. Cell 2000; 102:349-62. [PMID: 10975525 DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)00040-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 410] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The senseless (sens) gene is required for proper development of most cell types of the embryonic and adult peripheral nervous system (PNS) of Drosophila. Sens is a nuclear protein with four Zn fingers that is expressed and required in the sensory organ precursors (SOP) for proper proneural gene expression. Ectopic expression of Sens in many ectodermal cells causes induction of PNS external sensory organ formation and is able to recreate an ectopic proneural field. Hence, sens is both necessary and sufficient for PNS development. Our data indicate that proneural genes activate sens expression. Sens is then in turn required to further activate and maintain proneural gene expression. This feedback mechanism is essential for selective enhancement and maintenance of proneural gene expression in the SOPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Nolo
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
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133
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Beckers J, Caron A, Hrabé de Angelis M, Hans S, Campos-Ortega JA, Gossler A. Distinct regulatory elements direct delta1 expression in the nervous system and paraxial mesoderm of transgenic mice. Mech Dev 2000; 95:23-34. [PMID: 10906447 DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4773(00)00322-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The Delta1 gene encodes one of the Notch ligands in mice. Delta1 is expressed during early embryogenesis in a complex and dynamic pattern in the paraxial mesoderm and neuroectoderm, and is essential for normal somitogenesis and neuronal differentiation. Molecular components thought to act in response to ligand binding and Notch activation have been identified in different species. In contrast, little is known about the transcriptional regulation of Notch receptors and their ligands. As a first step to identify upstream factors regulating Delta1 expression in different tissues, we searched for cis-regulatory regions in the Delta1 promoter able to direct heterologous gene expression in a tissue specific manner in transgenic mice. Our results show that a 4.3 kb genomic DNA fragment of the Delta1 gene is sufficient in a lacZ reporter transgene to reproduce most aspects of Delta1 expression from the primitive streak stage to early organogenesis. Using a minimal Delta1 promoter we also show that this upstream region contains distinct regulatory modules that individually direct tissue-specific transgene expression in subdomains of the endogenous expression pattern. It appears that expression in the paraxial mesoderm depends on the interaction of multiple positive and negative regulatory elements. We also find that at least some regulatory sequences required for transgene expression in subdomains of the neural tube have been maintained during the evolution of mammals and teleost fish, suggesting that part of the regulatory network that controls expression of Delta genes may be conserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Beckers
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
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134
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Cau E, Gradwohl G, Casarosa S, Kageyama R, Guillemot F. Hes genes regulate sequential stages of neurogenesis in the olfactory epithelium. Development 2000; 127:2323-32. [PMID: 10804175 DOI: 10.1242/dev.127.11.2323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
We have characterised the functions of the bHLH transcriptional repressors HES1 and HES5 in neurogenesis, using the development of the olfactory placodes in mouse embryos as a model. Hes1 and Hes5 are expressed with distinct patterns in the olfactory placodes and are subject to different regulatory mechanisms. Hes1 is expressed in a broad placodal domain, which is maintained in absence of the neural determination gene Mash1. In contrast, expression of Hes5 is restricted to clusters of neural progenitor cells and requires Mash1 function. Mutations in Hes1 and Hes5 also have distinct consequences on olfactory placode neurogenesis. Loss of Hes1 function leads both to expression of Mash1 outside of the normal domain of neurogenesis and to increased density of MASH1-positive progenitors within this domain, and results in an excess of neurons after a delay. A mutation in Hes5 does not produce any apparent defect. However, olfactory placodes that are double mutant for Hes1 and Hes5 upregulate Ngn1, a neural bHLH gene activated downstream of Mash1, and show a strong and rapid increase in neuronal density. Together, our results suggest that Hes1 regulates Mash1 transcription in the olfactory placode in two different contexts, initially as a prepattern gene defining the placodal domain undergoing neurogenesis and, subsequently, as a neurogenic gene controlling the density of neural progenitors in this domain. Hes5 synergizes with Hes1 and regulates neurogenesis at the level of Ngn1 expression. Therefore, the olfactory sensory neuron lineage is regulated at several steps by negative signals acting through different Hes genes and targeting the expression of different proneural gene homologs.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Cau
- IGBMC, CNRS/INSERM/Université Louis Pasteur, BP 163, CU de Strasbourg, France
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135
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Baonza A, de Celis JF, García-Bellido A. Relationships between extramacrochaetae and Notch signalling in Drosophila wing development. Development 2000; 127:2383-93. [PMID: 10804180 DOI: 10.1242/dev.127.11.2383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The function of extramacrochaetae is required during the development of the Drosophila wing in processes such as cell proliferation and vein differentiation. extramacrochaetae encodes a transcription factor of the HLH family, but unlike other members of this family, Extramacrochaetae lacks the basic region that is involved in interaction with DNA. Some phenotypes caused by extramacrochaetae in the wing are similar to those observed when Notch signalling is compromised. Furthermore, maximal levels of extramacrochaetae expression in the wing disc are restricted to places where Notch activity is higher, suggesting that extramacrochaetae could mediate some aspects of Notch signalling during wing development. We have studied the relationships between extramacrochaetae and Notch in wing development, with emphasis on the processes of vein formation and cell proliferation. We observe strong genetic interaction between extramacrochaetae and different components of the Notch signalling pathway, suggesting a functional relationship between them. We show that the higher level of extramacrochaetae expression coincides with the domain of expression of Notch and its downstream gene Enhancer of split-m(beta). The expression of extramacrochaetae at the dorso/ventral boundary and in boundary cells between veins and interveins depends on Notch activity. We propose that at least during vein differentiation and wing margin formation, extramacrochaetae is regulated by Notch and collaborates with other Notch-downstream genes such as Enhancer of split-m(beta).
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Affiliation(s)
- A Baonza
- Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049, Spain
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136
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Cooper MT, Tyler DM, Furriols M, Chalkiadaki A, Delidakis C, Bray S. Spatially restricted factors cooperate with notch in the regulation of Enhancer of split genes. Dev Biol 2000; 221:390-403. [PMID: 10790334 DOI: 10.1006/dbio.2000.9691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Expression of the Drosophila Enhancer of split [E(spl)] genes, and their homologues in other species, is dependent on Notch activation. The seven E(spl) genes are clustered in a single complex and their functions overlap significantly; however, the individual genes have distinct patterns of expression. To investigate how this regulation is achieved and to find out whether there is shared or cross regulation between E(spl) genes, we have analysed the enhancer activity of sequences from the adjacent E(spl)mbeta, E(spl)mgamma and E(spl)mdelta genes and made comparisons to E(spl)m8. We find that although regulatory elements can be shared, most aspects of the expression of each individual gene are recapitulated by small (400-500 bp) evolutionarily conserved enhancers. Activated Notch or a Suppressor of Hairless-VP16 fusion are only sufficient to elicit transcription from the E(spl) enhancers in a subset of locations, indicating a requirement for other factors. In tissue culture cells, proneural proteins synergise with Suppressor of Hairless and Notch to promote expression from E(spl)mgamma and E(spl)m8, but this synergy is only observed in vivo with E(spl)m8. We conclude that additional factors besides the proneural proteins limit the response of E(spl)mgamma in vivo. In contrast to the other genes, E(spl)mbeta exhibits little response to proneural proteins and its high level of activity in the wing imaginal disc suggests that wing-specific factors cooperate with Notch to activate the E(spl)mbeta enhancer. These results demonstrate that Notch activity must be integrated with other transcriptional regulators and, since the activation of target genes is critical in determining the developmental consequences of Notch activity, provide a framework for understanding Notch function in different developmental contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Cooper
- Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, England
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137
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Abstract
Notch has been known for many years as a receptor for inhibitory signals that shapes the pattern of the nervous system during its development. Genes in the Notch pathway function to prevent neural determination so that only a subset of the available ectodermal cells become neural precursors. The localization of Notch signaling is crucial for determining where neural precursor cells arise on a cell-by-cell basis. The unresolved problem is that studies of the expression of Notch protein and its ligands are inconsistent with the pattern of neurogenesis. During neural cell fate specification, distributions of Notch protein and of its ligand Delta appear uniform. Under the reigning paradigm, such widespread expression should lead to N signal transduction in all cells and thereby prevent any neural specification. Yet, contrary to this expectation, neural elements still form, in characteristic patterns, hence, Notch signal transduction must have been inactive in the precursor cells. The mechanism preventing Notch signaling in certain cells must be posttranslational but it has not yet been identified. This review will outline the experimental evidence supporting this view of Notch signaling, and briefly evaluate some of the possible mechanisms that have been suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- N E Baker
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
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138
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Zaffran S, Frasch M. Barbu: an E(spl) m4/m(alpha)-related gene that antagonizes Notch signaling and is required for the establishment of ommatidial polarity. Development 2000; 127:1115-30. [PMID: 10662650 DOI: 10.1242/dev.127.5.1115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The Notch signaling pathway is required, in concert with cell-type-specific transcriptional regulators and other signaling processes, for multiple cell fate decisions during mesodermal and ectodermal tissue development. In many instances, Notch signaling occurs initially in a bidirectional manner and then becomes unidirectional upon amplification of small inherent differences in signaling activity between neighboring cells. In addition to ligands and extracellular modulators of the Notch receptor, several intracellular proteins have been identified that can positively or negatively influence the activity of the Notch pathway during these dynamic processes. Here, we describe a new gene, Barbu, whose product can antagonize Notch signaling activity during Drosophila development. Barbu encodes a small and largely cytoplasmic protein with sequence similarity to the proteins encoded by the transcription units m4 and m(alpha) of the E(spl) complex. Ectopic expression studies with Barbu provide evidence that Barbu can antagonize Notch during lateral inhibition processes in the embryonic mesoderm, sensory organ specification in imaginal discs and cell type specification in developing ommatidia. Barbu loss-of-function mutations cause lethality and disrupt the establishment of planar polarity and photoreceptor specification in eye imaginal discs, which may also be a consequence of altered Notch signaling activities. Furthermore, in the embryonic neuroectoderm, Barbu expression is inducible by activated Notch. Taken together, we propose that Barbu functions in a negative feed-back loop, which may be important for the accurate adjustment of Notch signaling activity and the extinction of Notch activity between successive rounds of signaling events.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Zaffran
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
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139
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Grynfeld A, Påhlman S, Axelson H. Induced neuroblastoma cell differentiation, associated with transient HES-1 activity and reducedHASH-1 expression, is inhibited by Notch1. Int J Cancer 2000. [DOI: 10.1002/1097-0215(20001101)88:3<401::aid-ijc12>3.0.co;2-v] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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140
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Helms W, Lee H, Ammerman M, Parks AL, Muskavitch MA, Yedvobnick B. Engineered truncations in the Drosophila mastermind protein disrupt Notch pathway function. Dev Biol 1999; 215:358-74. [PMID: 10545243 DOI: 10.1006/dbio.1999.9477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The phenotypes and genetic interactions associated with mutations in the Drosophila mastermind (mam) gene have implicated it as a component of the Notch signaling pathway. However, its function and site of action within many tissues requiring Notch signaling have not been thoroughly investigated. To address these questions, we have constructed truncated versions of the Mam protein that elicit dominant phenotypes when expressed in imaginal tissues under GAL4-UAS regulation. By several criteria, these effects appear to phenocopy loss of function for the Notch pathway. When expressed in the notum, truncated Mam results in failure of lateral inhibition within proneural clusters and perturbations in cell fate specification within the sensory organ precursor cell lineage. Expression in the wing is associated with vein thickening and margin defects, including nicking and bristle loss. The truncation-associated wing margin phenotypes are modified by mutations in Notch and Wg pathway genes and are correlated with depressed expression of wg, cut, and vg. These data support the idea that Mam truncations have lost key effector domains and therefore behave as dominant-negative proteins. Coexpression of Delta or an activated form of Notch suppresses the effects of the Mam truncation, suggesting that Mam can function upstream of ligand-receptor interaction in the Notch pathway. This system should prove useful for the investigation of the role of Mam within the Notch pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Helms
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
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141
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Pui JC, Allman D, Xu L, DeRocco S, Karnell FG, Bakkour S, Lee JY, Kadesch T, Hardy RR, Aster JC, Pear WS. Notch1 expression in early lymphopoiesis influences B versus T lineage determination. Immunity 1999; 11:299-308. [PMID: 10514008 DOI: 10.1016/s1074-7613(00)80105-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 730] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Notch receptors regulate fate decisions in many cells. One outcome of Notch signaling is differentiation of bipotential precursors into one cell type versus another. To investigate consequences of Notch1 expression in hematolymphoid progenitors, mice were reconstituted with bone marrow (BM) transduced with retroviruses encoding a constitutively active form of Notch1. Although neither granulocyte or monocyte differentiation were appreciably affected, lymphopoiesis was dramatically altered. As early as 3 weeks following transplantation, mice receiving activated Notch1-transduced BM contained immature CD4+ CD8+ T cells in the BM and exhibited a simultaneous block in early B cell lymphopoiesis. These results suggest that Notch1 provides a key regulatory signal in determining T lymphoid versus B lymphoid lineage decisions, possibly by influencing lineage commitment from a common lymphoid progenitor cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- J C Pui
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Institute of Medicine and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia 19104, USA
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142
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Apidianakis Y, Nagel AC, Chalkiadaki A, Preiss A, Delidakis C. Overexpression of the m4 and malpha genes of the E(spl)-complex antagonizes notch mediated lateral inhibition. Mech Dev 1999; 86:39-50. [PMID: 10446264 DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4773(99)00099-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Intercellular signalling mediated by Notch proteins is crucial to many cell fate decisions in metazoans. Its profound effects on cell fate and proliferation require that a complex set of responses involving positive and negative signal transducers be orchestrated around each instance of signalling. In Drosophila the basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) repressor encoding genes of the E(spl) locus are induced by Notch signalling and mediate some of its effects, such as suppression of neural fate. Here we report on a novel family of Notch responsive genes, whose products appear to act as antagonists of the Notch signal in the process of adult sensory organ precursor singularization. They, too, reside in the E(spl) locus and comprise transcription units E(spl) m4 and E(spl) malpha. Overexpression of these genes causes downregulation of E(spl) bHLH expression accompanied by cell autonomous overcommitment of sensory organ precursors and tufting of bristles. Interestingly, negative regulation of the Notch pathway by overexpression of E(spl) m4 and malpha is specific to the process of sensory organ precursor singularization and does not impinge on other instances of Notch signalling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Apidianakis
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, FORTH and Department of Biology, University of Crete, Box 1527, Heraklion GR-71 110, Greece
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143
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Abstract
Organization and function of the Notch signaling pathway in Drosophila are best understood with respect to its role in the process of selection of neural progenitor cells. However, there is evidence that, besides neurogenesis, the Notch signaling pathway is involved in several other developmental processes, one of which is the selection of muscle progenitor cells. Thus, the number of these cells is increased in neurogenic mutants, and it has been proposed that muscle progenitor cells are selected from clusters of equivalent cells expressing genes of the achaete-scute gene complex (AS-C). Here, I present evidence for the participation of additional elements of the Notch signaling pathway in myogenesis. Gal4 mediated expression of a Notch variant, E(spl) and Hairless shows that the selection of muscle progenitor cells obeys principles apparently identical to those acting at the selection of neural progenitor cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Giebel
- Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Universität zu Köln, 50923, Köln, Germany.
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144
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Bishop SA, Klein T, Arias AM, Couso JP. Composite signalling from Serrate and Delta establishes leg segments in Drosophila through Notch. Development 1999; 126:2993-3003. [PMID: 10357942 DOI: 10.1242/dev.126.13.2993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The receptor protein NOTCH and its ligands SERRATE and DELTA are involved in many developmental processes in invertebrates and vertebrates alike. Here we show that the expression of the Serrate and Delta genes patterns the segments of the leg in Drosophila by a combination of their signalling activities. Coincident stripes of Serrate and Delta expressing cells activate Enhancer of split expression in adjacent cells through Notch signalling. These cells form a patterning boundary from which a putative secondary signal leads to the development of leg joints. Elsewhere in the tarsal segments, signalling by DELTA and NOTCH is necessary for the development of non-joint parts of the leg. We propose that these two effects result from different thresholds of NOTCH activation, which are translated into different downstream gene expression effects. We propose a general mechanism for creation of boundaries by Notch signalling.
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Affiliation(s)
- S A Bishop
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway College, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
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145
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Jennings BH, Tyler DM, Bray SJ. Target specificities of Drosophila enhancer of split basic helix-loop-helix proteins. Mol Cell Biol 1999; 19:4600-10. [PMID: 10373509 PMCID: PMC84258 DOI: 10.1128/mcb.19.7.4600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Seven Enhancer of split genes in Drosophila melanogaster encode basic-helix-loop-helix transcription factors which are components of the Notch signalling pathway. They are expressed in response to Notch activation and mediate some effects of the pathway by regulating the expression of target genes. Here we have determined that the optimal DNA binding site for the Enhancer of split proteins is a palindromic 12-bp sequence, 5'-TGGCACGTG(C/T)(C/T)A-3', which contains an E-box core (CACGTG). This site is recognized by all of the individual Enhancer of split basic helix-loop-helix proteins, consistent with their ability to regulate similar target genes in vivo. We demonstrate that the 3 bp flanking the E-box core are intrinsic to DNA recognition by these proteins and that the Enhancer of split and proneural proteins can compete for binding on specific DNA sequences. Furthermore, the regulation conferred on a reporter gene in Drosophila by three closely related sequences demonstrates that even subtle sequence changes within an E box or flanking bases have dramatic consequences on the overall repertoire of proteins that can bind in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- B H Jennings
- Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, United Kingdom
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146
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Domínguez M. Dual role for Hedgehog in the regulation of the proneural gene atonal during ommatidia development. Development 1999; 126:2345-53. [PMID: 10225994 DOI: 10.1242/dev.126.11.2345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The differentiation of cells in the Drosophila eye is precisely coordinated in time and space. Each ommatidium is founded by a photoreceptor (R)8 cell and these founder cells are added in consecutive rows. Within a row, the nascent R8 cells appear in precise locations that lie out of register with the R8 cells in the previous row. The bHLH protein Atonal determines the development of the R8 cells. The expression of atonal is induced shortly before the selection of a new row of R8 cells and is initially detected in a stripe. Subsequently atonal expression resolves into regularly spaced clusters (proneural clusters) that prefigure the positions of the future R8 cells. The serial induction of atonal expression, and hence the increase in the number of rows of R8 cells, requires Hedgehog function. Here it is shown that, in addition to this role, Hedgehog signalling is also required to repress atonal expression between the nascent proneural clusters. This repression has not been previously described and appears to be critical for the positioning of Atonal proneural clusters and, therefore, the R8 cells. The two temporal responses to Hedgehog are due to direct stimulation of the responding cells by Hedgehog itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Domínguez
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH, UK.
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147
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Ligoxygakis P, Bray SJ, Apidianakis Y, Delidakis C. Ectopic expression of individual E(spl) genes has differential effects on different cell fate decisions and underscores the biphasic requirement for notch activity in wing margin establishment in Drosophila. Development 1999; 126:2205-14. [PMID: 10207145 DOI: 10.1242/dev.126.10.2205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
A common consequence of Notch signalling in Drosophila is the transcriptional activation of seven Enhancer of split [E(spl)] genes, which encode a family of closely related basic-helix-loop-helix transcriptional repressors. Different E(spl) proteins can functionally substitute for each other, hampering loss-of-function genetic analysis and raising the question of whether any specialization exists within the family. We expressed each individual E(spl) gene using the GAL4-UAS system in order to analyse their effect in a number of cell fate decisions taking place in the wing imaginal disk. We focussed on sensory organ precursor determination, wing vein determination and wing pattern formation. All of the E(spl) proteins affect the first two processes in the same way, namely they antagonize neural precursor and vein fates. Yet, the efficacy of this antagonism is quite distinct: E(spl)mbeta has the strongest vein suppression effect, whereas E(spl)m8 and E(spl)m7 are the most active bristle suppressors. During wing patterning, Notch activity orchestrates a complex sequence of events that define the dorsoventral boundary of the wing. We have discerned two phases within this process based on the sensitivity of N loss-of-function phenotypes to concomitant expression of E(spl) genes. E(spl) proteins are initially involved in repression of the vg quadrant enhancer, whereas later they appear to relay the Notch signal that triggers activation of cut expression. Of the seven proteins, E(spl)mgamma is most active in both of these processes. In conclusion, E(spl) proteins have partially redundant functions, yet they have evolved distinct preferences in implementing different cell fate decisions, which closely match their individual normal expression patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Ligoxygakis
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Foundation for Research and Technology Department of Biology, University of Crete, Vasilika Vouton, GR 71110, Heraklion, Greece
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148
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Barrantes IB, Elia AJ, Wünsch K, Hrabe de Angelis MH, Mak TW, Rossant J, Conlon RA, Gossler A, de la Pompa JL. Interaction between Notch signalling and Lunatic fringe during somite boundary formation in the mouse. Curr Biol 1999; 9:470-80. [PMID: 10330372 DOI: 10.1016/s0960-9822(99)80212-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 197] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The process of somitogenesis can be divided into three major events: the prepatterning of the mesoderm; the formation of boundaries between the prospective somites; and the cellular differentiation of the somites. Expression and functional studies have demonstrated the involvement of the murine Notch pathway in somitogenesis, although its precise role in this process is not yet well understood. We examined the effect of mutations in the Notch pathway elements Delta like 1 (Dll1), Notch1 and RBPJkappa on genes expressed in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) and have defined the spatial relationships of Notch pathway gene expression in this region. RESULTS We have shown that expression of Notch pathway genes in the PSM overlaps in the region where the boundary between the posterior and anterior halves of two consecutive somites will form. The Dll1, Notch1 and RBPJkappa mutations disrupt the expression of Lunatic fringe (L-fng), Jagged1, Mesp1, Mesp2 and Hes5 in the PSM. Furthermore, expression of EphA4, mCer 1 and uncx4.1, markers for the anterior-posterior subdivisions of the somites, is down-regulated to different extents in Notch pathway mutants, indicating a global alteration of pattern in the PSM. CONCLUSIONS We propose a model for the mechanism of somite border formation in which the activity of Notch in the PSM is restricted by L-fng to a boundary-forming territory in the posterior half of the prospective somite. In this region, Notch function activates a set of genes that are involved in boundary formation and anterior-posterior somite identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- I B Barrantes
- Amgen Institute, Ontario Cancer Institute, Departments of Medical Biophysics and Immunology University of Toronto 620 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C1, Canada
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149
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Cooper MT, Bray SJ. Frizzled regulation of Notch signalling polarizes cell fate in the Drosophila eye. Nature 1999; 397:526-30. [PMID: 10028969 DOI: 10.1038/17395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 214] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The Drosophila eye, a paradigm for epithelial organization, is highly polarized with mirror-image symmetry about the equator. The R3 and R4 photoreceptors in each ommatidium are vital in this polarity; they adopt asymmetrical positions in adult ommatidia and are the site of action for several essential genes. Two such genes are frizzled (fz) and dishevelled (dsh), the products of which are components of a signalling pathway required in R3, and which are thought to be activated by a diffusible signal. Here we show that the transmembrane receptor Notch is required downstream of dsh in R3/R4 for them to adopt distinct fates. By using an enhancer for the Notch target gene Enhancer of split mdelta, we show that Notch becomes activated specifically in R4. We propose that Fz/Dsh promotes activity of the Notch ligand Delta and inhibits Notch receptor activity in R3, creating a difference in Notch signalling capacity between R3 and R4. Subsequent feedback in the Notch pathway ensures that this difference becomes amplified. This interplay between Fz/Dsh and Notch indicates that polarity is established through local comparisons between two cells and explains how a signal from one position (for example, the equator in the eye) could be interpreted by all ommatidia in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Cooper
- Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, UK
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150
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Notch1-Induced Delay of Human Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Differentiation Is Associated With Altered Cell Cycle Kinetics. Blood 1999. [DOI: 10.1182/blood.v93.3.838.403k29_838_848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Hematopoiesis is a balance between proliferation and differentiation that may be modulated by environmental signals. Notch receptors and their ligands are highly conserved during evolution and have been shown to regulate cell fate decisions in multiple developmental systems. To assess whether Notch1 signaling may regulate human hematopoiesis to maintain cells in an immature state, we transduced a vesicular stomatitis virus G-protein (VSV-G) pseudo-typed bicistronic murine stem cell virus (MSCV)-based retroviral vector expressing a constitutively active form of Notch1 (ICN) and green fluorescence protein into the differentiation competent HL-60 cell line and primary cord blood–derived CD34+ cells. In addition, we observed endogenous Notch1 expression on the surface of both HL-60 cells and primary CD34+ cells, and therefore exposed cells to Notch ligand Jagged2, expressed on NIH3T3 cells. Both ligand-independent and ligand-dependent activation of Notch resulted in delayed acquisition of differentiation markers by HL-60 cells and cord blood CD34+ cells. In addition, primary CD34+cells retained their ability to form immature colonies, colony-forming unit–mix (CFU-mix), whereas control cells lost this capacity. Activation of Notch1 correlated with a decrease in the fraction of HL-60 cells that were in G0/G1phase before acquisition of a mature cell phenotype. This enhanced progression through G1 was noted despite preservation of the proliferative rate of the cells and the overall length of the cell cycle. These findings show that Notch1 activation delays human hematopoietic differentiation and suggest a link of Notch differentiation effects with altered cell cycle kinetics.
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