Notch signaling: distinct ligands induce specific signals during lymphocyte development and maturation.

Notch signaling is a highly conserved pathway involved in cell fate choice during development with Delta and Jagged constituting the two evolutionary conserved families of Notch ligands. These ligands are transmembrane proteins with conserved biochemical structure that share their receptors and signal through a common mechanism. Upon ligand binding Notch receptors are proteoliticaly cleaved, the intracellular domain of Notch (NICD) is released and translocated to the nucleus, where it activates target genes. In mammals, four receptors and five ligands have been described. Delta-1, Delta-3 and Delta-4 are homologues to Drosophila Delta and Jagged-1 and Jagged-2 to Drosophila Serrate. Despite strong domain homology, there is growing evidence that signals transmitted through Delta or Jagged ligands can differentially affect the target cell. At least during embryonic development, Notch receptors and Notch ligands functions cannot be compensated by other members. Knock-out mice for Notch-1, Notch-2, Delta-1 and Jagged-1 are embryonic lethal . Similarly, mice heterozygous for Delta-4 inactivation also die before birth . Invalidation of Jagged-2 results in defaults in thymus morphology and gammadelta development . Altogether, these data suggest that each Notch member can exert unique specific effects. In this review, we will thus focus on recent data about differential effects of Notch ligands on T cell development and differentiation. In light of recent biochemical and molecular advances on Notch-signaling pathway, we will examine how specific effects can be mediated by a given ligand.

In vivo and in absence of a thymus, the enforced expression of the Notch ligands delta-1 or delta-4 promotes T cell development with specific unique effects.

The role of Notch signaling in T cell commitment during lymphoid development is well established. However, the identity of the ligand that triggers this critical signal in vivo is still unclear. By overexpressing Delta-1 and Delta-4 ligands in the hemopoietic cells of athymic nu/nu host mice, we demonstrate that, in vivo and in the absence of a thymus, Delta-1 or Delta-4 expression is sufficient to promote T cell development from the most immature progenitor stages to complete maturation of both CD8(+) and CD4(+) alphabeta T cells. The mature T cells developing in a Delta-1- or Delta-4-enriched environment express a diverse TCR repertoire, are able to proliferate upon in vitro TCR stimulation, but show different profiles of cytokine production after in vitro anti-CD3 stimulation.

The hepatitis B virus X protein abrogates Bcl-2-mediated protection against Fas apoptosis in the liver.

The role of the hepatitis B virus protein HBx in liver cell proliferation and apoptosis remains controversial. Using a transgenic mouse model, we have recently shown that HBx stimulates the apoptotic turnover of hepatocytes, independently of p53. In this paper, we tested whether the proapoptotic function of HBx can interfere with Bcl-2 during hepatic apoptosis in vivo. HBx transgenic mice were crossed with PK-hBcl-2 mice that are protected against Fas killing by constitutive overexpression of Bcl-2 in hepatocytes. In a lethal challenge with Fas antibodies, HBx expressed at low levels restored sensitivity to Fas-mediated apoptosis and fulminant hepatic failure in mice overexpressing Bcl-2. Furthermore, cytochrome c release from mitochondria and caspase 3 activation were restored to normal levels in HBx/Bcl-2 mice during transduction of the Fas signal. Thus, the proapoptotic activity of HBx overcomes or bypasses the inhibitory effect of Bcl-2 against Fas cytotoxicity. This effect was not apparently mediated through downregulation of the PK-hBcl-2 transgene or via delocalization of the Bcl-2 protein, and a direct interaction of HBx with Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L) or Bax could not be evidenced in yeast two-hybrid assays. We further show that apoptosis induced by ectopic expression of HBx is associated with mitochondrial membrane alterations and caspase 3 activation. Our data indicate that the dominant function of HBx upon Bcl-2-regulated control of apoptosis might play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B.