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Desensitisation of Notch signalling through dynamic adaptation in the nucleus
Author(s) -
Viswanathan Ranjith,
Hartmann Jonas,
Pallares Cartes Cristina,
De Renzis Stefano
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.15252/embj.2020107245
Subject(s) - biology , notch signaling pathway , signalling , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , transcription factor , regulation of gene expression , signal transduction , genetics , gene
During embryonic development, signalling pathways orchestrate organogenesis by controlling tissue‐specific gene expression programmes and differentiation. Although the molecular components of many common developmental signalling systems are known, our current understanding of how signalling inputs are translated into gene expression outputs in real‐time is limited. Here we employ optogenetics to control the activation of Notch signalling during Drosophila embryogenesis with minute accuracy and follow target gene expression by quantitative live imaging. Light‐induced nuclear translocation of the Notch Intracellular Domain (NICD) causes a rapid activation of target mRNA expression. However, target gene transcription gradually decays over time despite continuous photo‐activation and nuclear NICD accumulation, indicating dynamic adaptation to the signalling input. Using mathematical modelling and molecular perturbations, we show that this adaptive transcriptional response fits to known motifs capable of generating near‐perfect adaptation and can be best explained by state‐dependent inactivation at the target cis ‐regulatory region. Taken together, our results reveal dynamic nuclear adaptation as a novel mechanism controlling Notch signalling output during tissue differentiation.