The Notch signaling pathway is a fundamental signaling system used by neighboring cells to communicate with each other in order to assume their proper developmental role. Notch proteins are cell surface transmembrane-spanning receptors which mediate criti ...cally important cellular functions through direct cell-cell contact. Interaction between Notch and its proposed ligands initiates a signaling cascade that governs cell fate decisions such as differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis in numerous tissue types. The core elements of the Notch signaling system include the Notch receptor, DSL ligands (Delta and Serrate/Jagged in Drosophila and vertebrates, Lag2 in Caenorhabditis elegans) and CSL DNA-binding proteins (CBF1/RBPJ-kappa in vertebrates, Su(H) [Suppressor of hairless] in Drosophila, Lag1 in C. elegans). Four paralogs of the Notch gene, Notch1, Notch2, Notch3 and Notch4, and five Notch ligands, including Jagged1, Jagged2, Delta1, Delta2 and Delta3, have been identified in vertebrates. The growing array of multiple genes for each ligand as well as genes for numerous modulators of Notch pathway confers extensive complexity on this signaling system.
View More... View Less...