Seugnet L, Simpson P
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.
Pathol Biol (Paris). 1996 Apr;44(4):282-6.
The Notch gene was discovered in Drosophila at the beginning of the century and is currently the subject of intensive investigation, not only in invertebrates but also in vertebrates where remarkably well conserved homologues have been recently found. Notch encodes a new kind of cellular receptor whose functioning is still unclear and plays a role in a large number of cell interactions throughout development and in tissue renewal in the adult. Detailed study in invertebrates of some of these interactions has led to the identification of other genes required for transduction of the signal initiated by the receptor. Notch is always involved in processes where cells have the potential to choose between several different programmes of differentiation. Cells adopt a specific developmental pathway as a result of the inhibition of some programmes through Notch signalling. In this review we discuss the contribution of different experimental models to an understanding of the role of Notch in intercellular signalling.
Notch基因于本世纪初在果蝇中被发现，目前是深入研究的对象，不仅在无脊椎动物中，而且在脊椎动物中也是如此，最近在脊椎动物中发现了保存非常完好的同源物。Notch编码一种新型细胞受体，其功能尚不清楚，在整个发育过程中的大量细胞相互作用以及成体组织更新中发挥作用。对无脊椎动物中其中一些相互作用的详细研究已导致鉴定出受体启动信号转导所需的其他基因。Notch总是参与细胞有可能在几种不同分化程序之间进行选择的过程。由于通过Notch信号传导抑制了某些程序，细胞采用特定的发育途径。在本综述中，我们讨论了不同实验模型对理解Notch在细胞间信号传导中的作用的贡献。
