Fringe genes are important in the workings of the

notch signaling The Notch signaling pathway is a highly conserved cell signaling system present in most animals. Mammals possess four different notch receptors, referred to as NOTCH1, NOTCH2, NOTCH3, and NOTCH4. The notch receptor is a single-pass transme ...

pathway. In ''

Drosophila melanogaster ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (an insect of the Order (biology), order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly", "pomace fly" ...

'' (the fruit fly) the fringe

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

(fng) was identified as part of the notch mechanism by Dr. Kenneth Irvine at the Waksman Institute at

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

. Later based on similarity, the ''manic fringe'' ( MFNG), the ''radical fringe'' ( RFNG) and ''lunatic fringe'' (

LFNG Beta-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase lunatic fringe, also known as Lunatic Fringe, is a protein encoded in humans by the ''LFNG'' gene. This gene encodes a member of the glycosyltransferase superfamily. The encoded protein is a single-pass t ...

) genes were identified in mammals. Fringe genes encode O-fucose specific β-1,3-N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases ( GlcNAcT)

glycosyltransferases Glycosyltransferases (GTFs, Gtfs) are enzymes ( EC 2.4) that establish natural glycosidic linkages. They catalyze the transfer of saccharide moieties from an activated nucleotide sugar (also known as the "glycosyl donor") to a nucleophilic glyc ...

. The gene products of radical fringe stimulate the

Apical Ectodermal Ridge The apical ectodermal ridge (AER) is a structure that forms from the ectodermal cells at the distal end of each limb bud and acts as a major signaling center to ensure proper development of a limb. After the limb bud induces AER formation, the AE ...

in limb-bud formation. The mouse and human Fringe family members map to three different

chromosomes A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most importa ...

: *Mfng maps to mouse Chr 15 and to human Chr 22. *Lfng maps to mouse Chr 5 and human Chr 7. *Rfng maps to mouse Chr 11 and human Chr 17.

References

Animal genes {{Gene-stub