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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Cell Aggregation Assays to Evaluate the Binding of the Drosophila Notch with Trans-Ligands and its Inhibition by Cis-Ligands
05:48

Cell Aggregation Assays to Evaluate the Binding of the Drosophila Notch with Trans-Ligands and its Inhibition by Cis-Ligands

Published on: January 2, 2018

A Wingless and Notch double-repression mechanism regulates G1-S transition in the Drosophila wing

Héctor Herranz1, Lidia Pérez, Francisco A Martín

  • 1ICREA and Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona, Spain.

The EMBO Journal
|May 3, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Wnt/Wingless (Wg) and Notch signaling pathways control tissue growth. This study reveals they act linearly to regulate cell cycle progression by modulating dmyc and bantam microRNA, impacting cancer development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Signaling
  • Cancer Biology

Background:

  • Tissue growth and patterning rely on Wnt/Wingless (Wg) and Notch signaling pathways.
  • Mutations in these pathways are linked to cancer, but their precise roles in cell proliferation and pathway crosstalk are unclear.
  • Previous research suggested Notch and Wg crosstalk organizes pattern and growth in Drosophila wing development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the linear pathway and molecular mechanisms by which Wnt/Wingless (Wg) and Notch signaling control cell-cycle progression.
  • To investigate the roles of dmyc proto-oncogene and bantam micro-RNA in this pathway.
  • To understand how Notch and Wg signaling influence G1-S progression in Drosophila wing cells.

Main Methods:

  • Investigated the signaling interactions between Wnt/Wingless (Wg) and Notch pathways in Drosophila wing primordia.
  • Analyzed the regulation of dmyc proto-oncogene and bantam micro-RNA expression by Wg and Notch.
  • Assessed the impact of these molecules on E2F transcription factor activity and G1-S cell-cycle progression.

Main Results:

  • Wnt/Wingless (Wg) and Notch signaling function in a linear pathway to control G1-S cell-cycle progression.
  • Wg and Notch regulate the expression of dmyc and bantam micro-RNA.
  • These molecules positively modulate E2F transcription factor activity, with Notch repressing cell-cycle progression and Wg alleviating this repression.

Conclusions:

  • Notch signaling acts as a repressor of cell-cycle progression in Drosophila wing cells.
  • Wnt/Wingless (Wg) signaling plays a permissive role, relieving Notch-mediated repression of G1-S progression.
  • The coordinated action of Wg, Notch, dmyc, and bantam micro-RNA is crucial for controlling cell proliferation and tissue patterning.

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