Opposing functions of a key molecule in the development of organisms

Friday, March 12, 2010 - 23:42 in Health & Medicine

Scientists headed by ICREA researcher Marco Milán, at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), reveal a surprising new function of Notch protein that contrasts with the one known to date. Found in the cell membrane, this protein activates a signalling pathway that regulates the expression of genes that make the cell divide, grow, migrate, specialise or die. Notch activity is required for the correct development of organisms and for the maintenance of tissues in adults. When Notch acts at an incorrect time or in an incorrect context, it can give rise to the generation of tumours, among these leukaemia, breast cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer and renal carcinomas.

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