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Review

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 3, 673–684 (1 September 2002) | doi:10.1038/nrm910

|[gamma]|-Secretase-mediated proteolysis in cell-surface-receptor signalling

Mark E. Fortini

Many cell-surface receptors transmit signals to the nucleus through complex protein cascades. By contrast, the Notch signalling pathway uses a relatively direct mechanism, in which the intracellular domain of the receptor is liberated by intramembrane cleavage and translocates to the nucleus. This critical cleavage is mediated by the γ-secretase complex, and new findings reveal that this mechanism is used by various receptors, although many questions remain about the biochemical details.