Creating Asymmetric Cell Divisions by Skewing Endocytosis

Qin Shen and Sally Temple^*

Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, Albany Medical College, 47 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY 12208, USA.

Summary: How can one cell divide to form two cells, which are genetically identical to the mother cell, with different cell fates? That is the question discussed by Shen and Temple. Specifically, they address how Notch signaling is attenuated in one daughter cell through the asymmetric inheritance of the protein Numb, which may be responsible for mediating the endocytosis of the receptor Notch in the Numb-enriched cell.

*Corresponding author. Telephone, 518-262-6850; fax, 518-262-6178; e-mail: TempleS{at}mail.amc.edu

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