Background information
The LIN-12/Notch family of transmembrane receptors is believed to play a central role in development by regulating cell fate decisions. Notch proteins have been found to be overexpressed or rearranged in human tumors. Ligands for Notch include Jagged, Jagged-2 and Delta. While blocking the differentiation of progenitor cells into the B cell lineage, Delta promotes the emergence of a population of cells with T cell/NK-cell characteristics. Delta is a membrane protein expressed in heart, pancreas, brain and muscle during gastrulation and early organogenesis, and in adult heart and lung.