Notch signalling pathway is central to development of metazoans. The pathway codes a binary fate switch. Upon activation, downstream signals contribute to resolution of fate dichotomies such as proliferation/differentiation or sub-lineage differentiation outcome. There is, however, an interesting paradox in the Notch signalling pathway. Despite remarkable predictability of fate outcomes instructed by the Notch pathway, the associated transcriptome is versatile and plastic. This inconsistency suggests the presence of an interface that compiles input from the plastic transcriptome of the Notch pathway but communicates only a binary output in biological decisions. Herein, we address the interface that determines fate outcomes. We provide an alternative hypothesis for the Notch pathway as a biological master switch that operates by induction of genetic noise and bistability in order to facilitate resolution of dichotomous fate outcomes in development.

中文翻译：

---

Notch 通路：生物噪音的双稳态诱导物？

Notch信号通路对于后生动物的发育至关重要。该通路编码了一个二元命运开关。激活后，下游信号有助于解决命运二分法，例如增殖/分化或亚谱系分化结果。然而，Notch 信号通路中存在一个有趣的悖论。尽管Notch通路指示的命运结果具有显着的可预测性，但相关的转录组是多功能且可塑的。这种不一致表明存在一个界面，该界面编译来自Notch途径的可塑转录组的输入，但在生物决策中仅传达二进制输出。在这里，我们讨论决定命运结果的界面。我们为 Notch 通路提供了另一种假设，将其作为生物主开关，通过诱导遗传噪声和双稳态来发挥作用，以促进解决发育中的二分命运结果。