Fringe forms a complex with Notch

The Fringe protein of Drosophila and its vertebrate homologues function in boundary determination during pattern formation. Fringe has been proposed to inhibit Serrate-Notch signalling but to potentiate Delta-Notch signalling. Here we show that Fringe and Notch form a complex through both the Lin-Notch repeats and the epidermal growth factor repeats 22-36 (EGF22-36) of Notch when they are co-expressed. The Abruptex^59b(Ax^59b) and Ax(M1) mutations, which are caused by missense mutations in EGF repeats 24 and 25, respectively, abolish the Fringe-Notch interaction through EGF22-36, whereas the l(1)N(B) mutation in the third Lin-Notch repeat of Notch abolishes the interaction through Lin-Notch repeats. Ax mutations also greatly affect the Notch response to ectopic Fringe in vivo. Results from in vitro protein mixing experiments and subcellular colocalization experiments indicate that the Fringe-Notch complex may form before their secretion. These findings explain how Fringe acts cell-autonomously to modulate the ligand preference of Notch and why the Fringe-Notch relationship is conserved between phyla and in the development of very diverse structures.