Signalling through the transmembrane receptor Notch is central to many cell-fate decisions in metazoan development. Activation of Notch by its ligands - Delta and Serrate in Drosophila - is regulated by O-fucosylation within the epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeats of Notch. To find out which of the many potential O-fucosylation sites are important for Notch activation, Lei et al. assayed the effects of eliminating several putative Notch O-fucose attachment sites on Notch activation in Drosophila wing cells (see p. 6411). Out of the four conserved sites tested, only elimination of the O-fucosylation site in Notch EGF12 prevented the normal inhibition of Serrate-to-Notch signalling by Fringe, a glycosyltransferase that elongates O-fucose chains. These and other results indicate that inhibition of Notch-Serrate binding by O-fucosylation of Notch EGF12 is needed in certain contexts to allow efficient regulation of Notch signalling.
About us
Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
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