Cell Size Affects Synthetic Cell-Cell Signal Output In Vivo

Cell-cell signaling and communication are integral to the existence of complex life. Cells often communicate through juxtacrine signaling mediated by a ligand presented on a cell surface binding to a specific receptor on a neighboring cell. Synthetic Notch (synNotch), based on the native Notch signaling pathway, transduces a unique input signal in the receiving cell due to contact with a neighboring ligand cell to produce a custom gene expression output. Here, our work in collaboration with the Langridge lab focuses on the synNotch output patterns in the developing fruit fly larvae, visualized with the green fluorescent protein (GFP). We extract cell size and shape parameters and the intensity of the GFP response to evaluate and quantify biophysical trends underlying synthetic cell-cell signaling. Our results support our previous computational model predictions showing an increase in synNotch response with increasing cell size. As cells undergo dramatic changes in size and morphology during development, our results show that cell size could affect cellular communication.