New tricks for an old dog | Nature Reviews Genetics

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Notch, a transmembrane receptor, is best known for mediating lateral inhibition — a mechanism that allows neighbouring cells to adopt one of

two different cell fates. Consistent with the function of Notch in preventing neural fate, lateral inhibition through Notch specifies the number and positioning of microchaetae—short sensory

bristles — on the adult body of the fly. When Ramain and colleagues characterized several dominant Notch mutants (_N__Mcd_) that they had identified in a genetic screen for loss of

microchaetae, they were surprised to find that the mutant phenotype was independent of the classical lateral inhibition pathway. So how is the Notch signal transduced in microchaetae?

Previous reports indicated that the cytoplasmic protein Deltex (Dx) can bind to the intracellular portion of Notch; Ramain _et al_. showed that mutations in Dx suppress the NMcd

gain-of-function phenotypes, indicating that this non-canonical Notch pathway requires Dx. This new microchaetae-repressing function of Notch would be expected to be inhibited in wild-type

flies. Dishevelled (Dsh), another component of the Wingless pathway, had been previously reported to interact physically with Notch, and so the authors proposed that Dsh antagonizes the

Dx-dependent function of Notch on the adult body. _In vivo_ and _in vitro_ analysis showed not only that Dsh is involved, but also that it binds to the intracellular portion of Notch that is

missing in the NMcd mutant proteins. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive

12 print issues and online access $209.00 per year only $17.42 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be

subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support ORIGINAL

RESEARCH PAPER * Ramain, P. et al. Novel _Notch_ alleles reveal a Deltex-dependent pathway repressing neural fate. _Curr. Biol._ 11, 1–20 (2001) Article  Google Scholar  Download references

Authors * Magdalena Skipper View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS

ARTICLE Skipper, M. New tricks for an old dog. _Nat Rev Genet_ 3, 6 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg720 Download citation * Issue Date: 01 January 2002 * DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg720 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently

available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative