Developmental Molecular Mechanisms

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Professor of Developmental Mechanics
• Group Leader, Laboratory of the Structure and Function of Living Matter, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
There is evidence that Notch can signal independently of this transcriptional activity. This Su(H) independent activity targets Armadillo, that is the Drosophila homologue of ß-catenin, and the effector of Wnt signalling. A function for Notch in the modulation of this signalling pathway has been analyzed over the years in Martinez Arias’s lab. These analyses have provided a basis to interpret reports of interactions that exist in the literature and a framework to probe into the mechanism. Using Drosophila wing imaginal discs as a model system, we have shown that the activity of Notch that modulates the activity of ß-catenin is tightly associated with the ligand independent traffic of Notch. Furthermore, we have also shown that Wnt is able to regulate the activity of Notch by promoting its ligand-independent traffic. These results have led us to propose that Wnt and Notch form a single functional device that we call Wntch.