Inhibition of Notch recycling by Numb: relevance and mechanism(s)

The Multitasker Protein: A Look at the Multiple Capabilities of NUMB

NUMB, a plasma membrane-associated protein originally described in Drosophila, is involved in determining cell function and fate during early stages of development. It is secreted asymmetrically in dividing cells, with one daughter cell inheriting NUMB and the other inheriting its antagonist, NOTCH. NUMB has been proposed as a polarizing agent and has multiple functions, including endocytosis and serving as an adaptor in various cellular pathways such as NOTCH, Hedgehog, and the P53-MDM2 axis. Due to its role in maintaining cellular homeostasis, it has been suggested that NUMB may be involved in various human pathologies such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Further research on NUMB could aid in understanding disease mechanisms and advancing the field of personalized medicine and the development of new therapies.

Endocytosis at the Crossroad of Polarity and Signaling Regulation: Learning from Drosophila melanogaster and Beyond

Cellular trafficking through the endosomal–lysosomal system is essential for the transport of cargo proteins, receptors and lipids from the plasma membrane inside the cells and across membranous organelles. By acting as sorting stations, vesicle compartments direct the fate of their content for degradation, recycling to the membrane or transport to the trans-Golgi network. To effectively communicate with their neighbors, cells need to regulate their compartmentation and guide their signaling machineries to cortical membranes underlying these contact sites. Endosomal trafficking is indispensable for the polarized distribution of fate determinants, adaptors and junctional proteins. Conversely, endocytic machineries cooperate with polarity and scaffolding components to internalize receptors and target them to discrete membrane domains. Depending on the cell and tissue context, receptor endocytosis can terminate signaling responses but can also activate them within endosomes that act as signaling platforms. Therefore, cell homeostasis and responses to environmental cues rely on the dynamic cooperation of endosomal–lysosomal machineries with polarity and signaling cues. This review aims to address advances and emerging concepts on the cooperative regulation of endocytosis, polarity and signaling, primarily in Drosophila melanogaster and discuss some of the open questions across the different cell and tissue types that have not yet been fully explored.

Asymmetric cell division of mammary stem cells

Somatic stem cells are distinguished by their capacity to regenerate themselves and also to produce daughter cells that will differentiate. Self-renewal is achieved through the process of asymmetric cell division which helps to sustain tissue morphogenesis as well as maintain homeostasis. Asymmetric cell division results in the development of two daughter cells with different fates after a single mitosis. Only one daughter cell maintains "stemness" while the other differentiates and achieves a non-stem cell fate. Stem cells also have the capacity to undergo symmetric division of cells that results in the development of two daughter cells which are identical. Symmetric division results in the expansion of the stem cell population. Imbalances and deregulations in these processes can result in diseases such as cancer. Adult mammary stem cells (MaSCs) are a group of cells that play a critical role in the expansion of the mammary gland during puberty and any subsequent pregnancies. Furthermore, given the relatively long lifespans and their capability to undergo self-renewal, adult stem cells have been suggested as ideal candidates for transformation events that lead to the development of cancer. With the possibility that MaSCs can act as the source cells for distinct breast cancer types; understanding their regulation is an important field of research. In this review, we discuss asymmetric cell division in breast/mammary stem cells and implications on further research. We focus on the background history of asymmetric cell division, asymmetric cell division monitoring techniques, identified molecular mechanisms of asymmetric stem cell division, and the role asymmetric cell division may play in breast cancer.

Intrinsic regulation of enteroendocrine fate by Numb

How terminal cell fates are specified in dynamically renewing adult tissues is not well understood. Here we explore terminal cell fate establishment during homeostasis using the enteroendocrine cells (EEs) of the adult Drosophila midgut as a paradigm. Our data argue against the existence of local feedback signals, and we identify Numb as an intrinsic regulator of EE fate. Our data further indicate that Numb, with alpha-adaptin, acts upstream or in parallel of known regulators of EE fate to limit Notch signaling, thereby facilitating EE fate acquisition. We find that Numb is regulated in part through its asymmetric and symmetric distribution during stem cell divisions; however, its de novo synthesis is also required during the differentiation of the EE cell. Thus, this work identifies Numb as a crucial factor for cell fate choice in the adult Drosophila intestine. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that cell-intrinsic control mechanisms of terminal cell fate acquisition can result in a balanced tissue-wide production of terminally differentiated cell types.

Immunoprofiling of Adult-Derived Human Liver Stem/Progenitor Cells: Impact of Hepatogenic Differentiation and Inflammation

Adult-derived human liver stem/progenitor cells (ADHLSCs) are, nowadays, developed as therapeutic medicinal product for the treatment of liver defects. In this study, the impact of hepatogenic differentiation and inflammation priming on the ADHLSCs' immune profile was assessed in vitro and compared to that of mature hepatocytes. The constitutive immunological profile of ADHLSCs was greatly different from that of hepatocytes. Differences in the expression of the stromal markers CD90 and CD105, adhesion molecules CD44 and CD49e, immunoregulatory molecules CD73 and HO-1, and NK ligands CD112 and CD155 were noted. While they globally preserved their immunological profile in comparison to undifferentiated counterparts, differentiated ADHLSCs showed a significant downregulation of CD200 expression as in hepatocytes. This was mainly induced by signals issued from EGF and OSM. On the other hand, the impact of inflammation was quite similar for all studied cell populations with an increased expression level of CD54 and CD106 and induction of that of CD40 and CD274. In conclusion, our immune profiling study suggests CD200 as a key factor in regulating the immunobiology of differentiated ADHLSCs. A better understanding of the molecular and physiological events related to such marker could help in designing the optimal conditions for an efficient therapeutic use of ADHLSCs.

Self-renewal molecular mechanisms of colorectal cancer stem cells

Colorectal cancer stem cells (CCSCs) represent a small fraction of the colorectal cancer cell population that possess self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation potential and drive tumorigenicity. Self-renewal is essential for the malignant biological behaviors of colorectal cancer stem cells. While the self-renewal molecular mechanisms of colorectal cancer stem cells are not yet fully understood, the aberrant activation of signaling pathways, such as Wnt, Notch, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Hedgehog-Gli (HH-GLI), specific roles mediated by cell surface markers and micro-environmental factors are involved in the regulation of self-renewal. The elucidation of the molecular mechanisms behind self-renewal may lead to the development of novel targeted interventions for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Adapting for endocytosis: roles for endocytic sorting adaptors in directing neural development

Proper cortical development depends on the orchestrated actions of a multitude of guidance receptors and adhesion molecules and their downstream signaling. The levels of these receptors on the surface and their precise locations can greatly affect guidance outcomes. Trafficking of receptors to a particular surface locale and removal by endocytosis thus feed crucially into the final guidance outcomes. In addition, endocytosis of receptors can affect downstream signaling (both quantitatively and qualitatively) and regulated endocytosis of guidance receptors is thus an important component of ensuring proper neural development. We will discuss the cell biology of regulated endocytosis and the impact on neural development. We focus our discussion on endocytic accessory proteins (EAPs) (such as numb and disabled) and how they regulate endocytosis and subsequent post-endocytic trafficking of their cognate receptors (such as Notch, TrkB, β-APP, VLDLR, and ApoER2).

NUMB inhibition of NOTCH signalling as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is among the most prevalent life-threatening cancers diagnosed in the male population today. Various methods have been exploited in an attempt to treat this disease but these treatments, alongside preventative tactics, have been insufficient to control mortality rates and have usually resulted in detrimental adverse events. An opportunity to devise more-specific and potentially more-effective approaches for the eradication of prostate tumours can be found by targeting specific biological pathways. NUMB (protein numb homologue), a key regulator of cell fate, represents an attractive, actionable target in prostate cancer. NUMB participates in the observed deregulation of NOTCH (neurogenic locus notch homologue protein) signalling in prostate tumours, and the NUMB-NOTCH interaction regulates cell fate. NUMB has potential both as a target for control of prostate tumorigenesis and as a biomarker for identification of patients with prostate cancer who are likely to benefit from NOTCH inhibition.

Numb promotes cell proliferation and correlates with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Numb is an evolutionary conserved protein that plays critical roles in cell fate determination, cell adhesion, cell migration and a number of signaling pathways, but evidence for a substantial involvement of Numb in HCC has remained unclear. The present study was aimed to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of Numb and its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODOLOGY

The expression of Numb was detected in 107 cases of clinical paraffin-embedded hepatocellular carcinoma tissues,5 matched paris of fresh tissues and six hepatocellular cell lines by immunohistochemistry with clinicopathological analyses,RT-PCR or Western blot. Moreover, loss of function and gain of function assays were performed to evaluate the effect of Numb on cell proliferation in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that Numb was obviously up-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines (p<0.05). The Numb up-regulation correlated significantly with poor prognosis, and Numb status was identified as an independent prognostic factor. Over-expression of Numb increased proliferation in SMMC-7721 and BEL-7402 cells, while knock-down of Numb showed the opposite effect. Our study indicates that Numb up-regulation significantly correlates with cell proliferation and poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. It may be a useful biomarker for therapeutic strategy in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.