A humorous science skit.
Delta: Hey guys, have you ever wondered why we have such unusual names? I mean, put together, we sound like a Notched-up college Greek Society; a bunch of undergrads that go totally Numb after an exhausting Rush.
Delta Notch Numb: Neurogenesis Society
Delta: Hey guys, have you ever wondered why we have such unusual names? I mean, put together, we sound like a Notched-up college Greek Society; a bunch of undergrads that go totally Numb after an exhausting Rush.
Numb: LOL! I mean, I got my name because when I'm mutated, cells become numb to certain signals, and that can lead to developmental misses.
Notch: Definitely. Mutant-me can zap notches in the fruit fly wings!
I'm a VVIP (very very important person/protein) cuz I have my own Notch-signaling pathway, which regulates cell fate determination and differentiation.
Numb: I keep Notch, aka Mr. Pompous Puffin, in check.
And I'm involved in the asymmetric division of neural crest cells, which is important for generating different types of cells. Imagine a bizzaro world of a developing brain and body systems made up of just one type of undifferentiated cell if I was not around.
Delta: That’s right, Mr Bigwig Notch. Let me take you down a Notch or two as well!
Notch needs me, the ligand, to bind, to activate the Notch pathways in the first place. Dysregulation of the Delta-Notch pathway is implicated in autism.
As for my name origin story - mutate me and you get triangular greek-delta patterns in the veins of fruit fly wings.
As for my name origin story - mutate me and you get triangular greek-delta patterns in the veins of fruit fly wings.
Which makes me the only authentic Greek in this trio really!!
Notch: ROFL, Mr. Greek!
Let's not forget, our role in neurogenesis applies to many species, beyond just fruit flies. Together, we do have some pretty interesting roles in cell signaling and in the development of many different tissues and organs in the neural crest.
Numb: We're definitely not your average protein names. Little unconventional, but at least memorable
Notch: ROFL, Mr. Greek!
Let's not forget, our role in neurogenesis applies to many species, beyond just fruit flies. Together, we do have some pretty interesting roles in cell signaling and in the development of many different tissues and organs in the neural crest.
Numb: We're definitely not your average protein names. Little unconventional, but at least memorable
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Notch , Numb, and Delta are proteins involved in neurogenesis, which is the process of generating new neurons in the developing brain.
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