Implications of dynamic patterns of Delta and Notch expression for cellular interactions during Drosophila development

Delta and Notch function are required for cell fate specification in numerous tissues during embryonic and postembryonic Drosophila development. Delta is expressed by all members of interacting cell populations within which fates are being specified and is subsequently down-regulated as cells stably adopt particular fates. Multiphasic expression in the derivatives of many germ layers implies successive requirements for Delta function in a number of tissues. At the cellular level, Delta and Notch expression are generally coincident within developing tissues. At the subcellular level, Delta and Notch are localized in apparent endocytic vesicles during down-regulation from the surfaces of interacting cells, implying an interaction consistent with their proposed roles as signal and receptor in cellular interactions during development.