The discovery of Notch in Drosophila melanogaster nearly a century ago opened the door to an ever-widening understanding of cellular processes that are controlled or influenced by Notch signalling. As would be expected with such a pleiotropic pathway, the deregulation of Notch signalling leads to several pathological conditions, including cancer. A role for Notch is well established in haematological malignancies, and more recent studies have provided evidence for the importance of Notch activity in solid tumours. As it is thought to act as an oncogene in some cancers but as a tumour suppressor in others, the role of Notch in solid tumours seems to be highly context dependent.

Notch genes encode a family of transmembrane proteins that are involved in many cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Although it is well established that all four Notch genes can act as oncogenes, the mechanism by which Notch proteins transform cells remains unknown.

Notch is a highly conserved transmembrane receptor that determines cell fate. Notch signaling denotes cleavage of the Notch intracellular domain, its translocation to the nucleus, and subsequent activation of target gene transcription. Involvement of Notch signaling in several cancers is well known, but its role in melanoma remains poorly characterized. Here we show that the Notch1 pathway is activated in human melanoma. Blocking Notch signaling suppressed whereas constitutive activation of the Notch1 pathway enhanced primary melanoma cell growth both in vitro and in vivo yet had little effect on metastatic melanoma cells. Activation of Notch1 signaling enabled primary melanoma cells to gain metastatic capability. Furthermore, the oncogenic effect of Notch1 on primary melanoma cells was mediated by β-catenin, which was upregulated following Notch1 activation. Inhibiting β-catenin expression reversed Notch1-enhanced tumor growth and metastasis. Our data therefore suggest a β-catenin-dependent, stage-specific role for Notch1 signaling in promoting the progression of primary melanoma.

Recent work with mouse models and human leukemic samples has shown that gain-of-function mutation(s) in Notch1 is a common genetic event in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). The Notch1 receptor signals through a γ-secretase-dependent process that releases intracellular Notch1 from the membrane to the nucleus, where it forms part of a transcriptional activator complex. To identify Notch1 target genes in leukemia, we developed mouse T-cell leukemic lines that express intracellular Notch1 in a doxycycline-dependent manner. Using gene expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we identified c-myc as a novel, direct, and critical Notch1 target gene in T-cell leukemia. c-myc mRNA levels are increased in primary mouse T-cell tumors that harbor Notch1 mutations, and Notch1 inhibition decreases c-myc mRNA levels and inhibits leukemic cell growth. Retroviral expression of c-myc, like intracellular Notch1, rescues the growth arrest and apoptosis associated with γ-secretase inhibitor treatment or Notch1 inhibition. Consistent with these findings, retroviral insertional mutagenesis screening of our T-cell leukemia mouse model revealed common insertions in either notch1 or c-myc genes. These studies define the Notch1 molecular signature in mouse T-ALL and importantly provide mechanistic insight as to how Notch1 contributes to human T-ALL.

Direct communication between arteries and veins without intervening capillary beds is the primary pathology of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Although Notch signaling is implicated in embryonic arteriovenous (AV) differentiation, its function in the adult mammalian vasculature has not been established due to the embryonic lethality that often occurs in both gain- and loss-of-function mutants. We expressed a constitutively active Notch4, int3, in the adult mouse endothelium by using the tetracycline-repressible system to suppress int3 during embryogenesis. int3 caused profound blood vessel enlargement and AV shunting, which are hallmarks of AVM, and led to lethality within weeks of its expression. Vessel enlargement, a manifestation of AVM, occurred in an apparently tissue-specific fashion; the liver, uterus, and skin were affected. int3-mediated vascular defects were accompanied by arterialization, including ectopic venous expression of ephrinB2, increased smooth muscle cells, and up-regulation of endogenous Notch signaling. Remarkably, the defective vessels and illness were reversed upon repression of int3 expression. Finally, endothelial expression of a constitutively active Notch1 induced similar hepatic vascular lesions. Our results provide gain-of-function evidence that Notch signaling in the adult endothelium is sufficient to render arterial characteristics and lead to AVMs

The Notch genes of Drosophila melanogaster and vertebrates encode transmembrane receptors that help determine cell fate during development. Although ligands for Notch proteins have been identified, the signaling cascade downstream of the receptors remains poorly understood. In human acute lymphoblastic T-cell leukemia, a chromosomal translocation damages the NOTCH1 gene. The damage apparently gives rise to a constitutively activated version of NOTCH protein. Here we show that a truncated version of NOTCH1 protein resembling that found in the leukemic cells can transform rat kidney cells in vitro. The transformation required cooperation with the E1A oncogene of adenovirus. The transforming version of NOTCH protein was located in the nucleus. In contrast, neither wild-type NOTCH protein nor a form of the truncated protein permanently anchored to the plasma membrane produced transformation in vitro. We conclude that constitutive activation of NOTCH similar to that found in human leukemia can contribute to neoplastic transformation. Transformation may require that the NOTCH protein be translocated to the nucleus. These results sustain a current view of how Notch transduces a signal from the surface of the cell to the nucleus.

IntroductionNotch proteins are a family of ligand-activated large (300 kDa) single-pass transmembrane heterodimeric receptors. 1 Notch controls multiple cell fate decisions and differentiation processes during lymphocyte development and function and is required at various stages of T-cell development. 2,3 Deregulated Notch signaling during T-cell development leads to malignant transformation, including the cancer most closely associated with aberrant Notch expression in humans, acute T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), which constitutes approximately 15% to 20% of ALLs seen in adults and children. 4,5 The oncogenic potential of Notch was first identified in (t7;9) chromosomal rearrangement in approximately 2% of human T-ALL, whereby intracelluar Notch1 is translocated to the T-cell receptor (TCR) ␤ gene. 6 More than 50% of human T-ALLs bear mutations in Notch1, indicating a prominent role for Notch in this T-cell malignancy. 7 Inhibitors of Notch signaling abrogate the growth of human and murine T-ALL cell lines bearing Notch1 gain-of-function mutations, indicating Notch is required in established tumors. 8,9 In vertebrates, 4 notch receptors (Notch 1-4) are activated by 5 different Notch ligands expressed on various cell types: Jagged1, Jagged2, and Delta-like (DL)1, DL3, and DL4. 2,3 After ligandbinding, proteolytic cleavage by ␥-secretase releases the signalingcompetent intracellular domain of Notch (N IC ). 10-12 N IC is composed of a RAM domain, ankyrin repeats (ANK) that mediate protein-protein interactions, nuclear localization sequences, a transactivation domain (TAD), and a C-terminal PEST domain regulating protein turnover. Human T-ALL cases frequently bear activating mutations in the extracellular heterodimerization domain and/or the C-terminal PEST domain of Notch1, resulting in ligand-independent activation. 7 During canonical Notch signaling, N IC translocates to the nucleus, engages its nuclear binding protein CSL (CBF-1, mammals; suppressor of hairless, Drosophila melanogaster; Lag-1, Caenorhabditis elegans) and transcribes downstream target genes, including the HES family of transcriptional repressors. 13,14 In the absence of N IC , CSL recruits repressor complexes to the regulatory regions of Notch/CSL target genes, inhibiting transcription. N IC interaction with CSL acts as a switch that promotes the assembly of CSL coactivator complexes. [15][16][17] ␥-Secretase inhibitors (GSIs) block proteolytic cleavage of Notch receptors, thereby preventing activation of Notch. Use of GSI in activated T cells results in down-regulation of nuclear factor (NF)-B activity, cytokine (interleukin-2 [IL-2] and interferon-␥ [IFN-␥]) production, and cell proliferation. 18 In T-cell lymphomas, context-specific putative target genes have been identified through which Notch1 may promote transformation by altering cell-growth kinetics. [19][20][21] The D-type cyclins (cyclins D1, D2, and D3) are the first cyclins to be induced as cells enter the G 1 phase of the cell cycle, [22][23][24] and, thus, if regulat...

Aberrant Notch signaling contributes to more than half of all human T-cell leukemias, and accumulating evidence indicates Notch involvement in other human neoplasms. We developed a tetracycline-inducible mouse model (Top-Notch ic