Kinase active Misshapen regulates Notch signaling in Drosophila melanogaster

Notch signaling pathway represents a principal cellular communication system that plays a pivotal role during development of metazoans. Drosophila misshapen (msn) encodes a protein kinase, which is related to the budding yeast Ste20p (sterile 20 protein) kinase. In a genetic screen, using candidate gene approach to identify novel kinases involved in Notch signaling, we identified msn as a novel regulator of Notch signaling. Data presented here suggest that overexpression of kinase active form of Msn exhibits phenotypes similar to Notch loss-of-function condition and msn genetically interacts with components of Notch signaling pathway. Kinase active form of Msn associates with Notch receptor and regulate its signaling activity. We further show that kinase active Misshapen leads to accumulation of membrane-tethered form of Notch. Moreover, activated Msn also depletes Armadillo and DE-Cadherin from adherens junctions. Thus, this study provides a yet unknown mode of regulation of Notch signaling by Misshapen.