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Teeth develop as epithelial appendages, and their morphogenesis is regulated by epithelial–mesenchymal interactions and conserved signaling pathways common to many developmental processes. A key event during tooth morphogenesis is the transition from bud to cap stage when the epithelial bud is divided into specific compartments distinguished by morphology as well as gene expression patterns. The enamel knot, a signaling center, forms and regulates the shape and size of the tooth. Mesenchymal signals are necessary for epithelial patterning and for the formation and maintenance of the epithelial compartments. We studied the expression of Notch pathway molecules during the bud-to-cap stage transition of the developing mouse tooth. Lunatic fringe expression was restricted to the epithelium, where it formed a boundary flanking the enamel knot. The Lunatic fringe expression domains overlapped only partly with the expression of Notch1 and Notch2, which were coexpressed with Hes1. We examined the regulation of Lunatic fringe and Hes1 in cultured explants of dental epithelium. The expression of Lunatic fringe and Hes1 depended on mesenchymal signals and both were positively regulated by FGF-10. BMP-4 antagonized the stimulatory effect of FGF-10 on Lunatic fringe expression but had a synergistic effect with FGF-10 on Hes1 expression. Recombinant Lunatic fringe protein induced Hes1 expression in the dental epithelium, suggesting that Lunatic fringe can act also extracellularly. Lunatic fringe mutant mice did not reveal tooth abnormalities, and no changes were observed in the expression patterns of other Fringe genes. We conclude that Lunatic fringe may play a role in boundary formation of the enamel knot and that Notch-signaling in the dental epithelium is regulated by mesenchymal FGFs and BMP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The mammalian cochlea contains an invariant mosaic of sensory hair cells and non-sensory supporting cells reminiscent of invertebrate structures such as the compound eye in Drosophila melanogaster. The sensory epithelium in the mammalian cochlea (the organ of Corti) contains four rows of mechanosensory hair cells: a single row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells. Each hair cell is separated from the next by an interceding supporting cell, forming an invariant and alternating mosaic that extends the length of the cochlear duct. Previous results suggest that determination of cell fates in the cochlear mosaic occurs via inhibitory interactions between adjacent progenitor cells (lateral inhibition). Cells populating the cochlear epithelium appear to constitute a developmental equivalence group in which developing hair cells suppress differentiation in their immediate neighbours through lateral inhibition. These interactions may be mediated through the Notch signalling pathway, a molecular mechanism that is involved in the determination of a variety of cell fates. Here we show that genes encoding the receptor protein Notch1 and its ligand, Jagged 2, are expressed in alternating cell types in the developing sensory epithelium. In addition, genetic deletion of Jag2 results in a significant increase in sensory hair cells, presumably as a result of a decrease in Notch activation. These results provide direct evidence for Notch-mediated lateral inhibition in a mammalian system and support a role for Notch in the development of the cochlear mosaic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by Jin Zheng and colleagues to a letter to the editor about their article "Conditional deletion of Notch1 and Notch2 genes in excitatory neurons of postnatal forebrain does not cause neurodegeneration or reduction of Notch mRNAs and proteins" is presented.

The article offers information on a medical study which shows that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) and fibroblast growth factors (FGF) target Notch signalling via Jag 2 gene to regulate tooth morphogenesis and cytodifferentiation. The Notch signalling pathway is an evolutionarily intercellular signalling mechanism that is essential for cell fate and proper embryonic development. It is seen that Notch signalling is mediated by (Jag2) gene which is important for normal tooth development.

The product of the Snail1 gene is a transcriptional repressor required for triggering the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, ectopic expression of Snail1 in epithelial cells promotes resistance to apoptosis. In this study, we demonstrate that this resistance to γ radiation-induced apoptosis caused by Snail1 is associated with the inhibition of PTEN phosphatase. In MDCK cells, mRNA levels of the p53 target gene PTEN are induced after γ radiation; the transfection of Snail1 prevents this up-regulation. Decreased mRNA levels of PTEN were also detected in RWP-1 cells after γ the ectopic expression of this transcriptional factor. Snail1 represses and associates to the PTEN promoter as detected both by the electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments performed with either endogenous or ectopic Snail1. The binding of Snail1 to the PTEN promoter increases after radiation, correlating with the stabilization of Snail1 protein, and prevents the association of p53 to the PTEN promoter. These results stress the critical role of Snail1 in the control of apoptosis and demonstrate the regulation of PTEN phosphatase by this transcriptional repressor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "The Notch ligands DLL1 and JAG2 act synergistically to regulate hair cell development in the mammalian inner ear," by Amy E. Kiernan, Ralf Cordes, Raphael Kopan, Achim Gossler and Thomas Gridley, is presented.

An abstract of the article "Notch signaling coordinates the patterning of striatal compartments," by Heather A. Mason, Staci M. Rakowiecki, Myrto Raftopoulou, Susana Nery, Yuanyuan Huang, Thomas Gridley and Gord Fishell, is presented.