Role Of Notch Signaling In Oncogenesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Role Of Notch Signaling In Oncogenesis - Essay Example Extensive research in notch pathway has identified either dysregulation or faulty signaling in cancers and many other diseases like multiple sclerosis, tetralogy of Fallot and Alagille syndrome. Because Notch signaling pathway is involved in the progression and development of several malignancies, it is considered a novel therapeutic target and if the research on this aspect is fruitful, it can have the highest therapeutic impact in modern clinical medicine (Wang, Li, Banerjee and Sarkar, 2008).The Notch signaling pathway The most important constituents of the Notch signaling pathway are the receptors. There are basically four types of Notch receptors which are single- pass transmembrane receptor proteins. They are Notch1 through Notch 4. Each of these is a heterodimer which is proteolytically cleaved and lies at the surface of the cell. The receptor is made up of 2 domains, the ectodomain and intracellular domain. Both these domains are associated in a calcium dependent, noncovalent interaction. Ectodomain is large and constitutes the outside part of the cell surface. The intracellular domain is smaller and tethered to the membrane. The ectodomain part of Notch receptors interacts with certain ligands of adjacent cells. These ligands belong to Jagged and Delta- like families and are named as JAG1, JAG2, DLL1, DLL3, and DLL4. The interaction between the receptor and ligand induces a couple of proteolytic cleavages causing the release of the intracellular domain part of the receptor from the cell membrane.