Beta-1,3-N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase Manic Fringe (MFNG)

MFNG is a member of the fringe gene family which also includes Radical and Lunatic fringe. While their genomic structure is distinct from other glycosyltransferases, fringe proteins have a fucose-specific beta1,3 N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity that leads to elongation of O-linked fucose residues on Notch, which alters Notch signaling.

The predicted 321-amino acid mouse Mfng protein has a putative signal peptide. When misexpressed in the Drosophila wing disc, Mfng mimics some of the activities of Drosophila fringe. Expression studies of the fringe homologs in mouse embryos by in situ hybridization suggested that all 3 homologs participate in the Notch signaling pathway in determining boundaries during segmentation and cell fates during neurogenesis.