Numb deletion in POMC-expressing cells impairs pituitary intermediate lobe cell adhesion, progenitor cell localization, and neuro-intermediate lobe boundary formation.

ABSTRACT: The pituitary gland contains six distinct hormone-secreting cell types that are essential for basic physiological processes including fertility and responding to stress. Formation of hormone-secreting cells during development relies on Notch signaling to prevent progenitors from prematurely differentiating. The nature of the signal curtailing Notch signaling in the pituitary is unknown, but a good candidate is the endocytic adaptor protein NUMB. NUMB targets Notch for proteolytic degradation, but it also has a broad range of actions, including stabilizing adherens junctions through interactions with cadherins and influencing cell proliferation by stabilizing expression of the tumor suppressor protein p53. Here, we show that NUMB and its closely related homolog, NUMBLIKE, are expressed in u

SUBMITTER: Moran TB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3033053 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature