NUMB, the mammalian homolog to the Drosophila asymmetric cell fate determinant NUMB, is thought to share several features molecular mechanisms in mammalian cells, generating asymmetric cell divisions during neurogenesis in vertebrate development as well as in hematopoietic stem cells. NUMB has been shown to inhibit Notch signaling, and is itself regulated by ubiquitinylation by MDM2. NUMB has also been shown to help activate the tumor suppressor p53, suggesting that loss of NUMB in cancerous cells would not only activate the potential oncogene Notch, but diminish the tumor suppressing effect of p53.