NOTCH1 and melanoma: It can affect the cell microenvironment by cleaving type I collagen in 3 dimensional (3 D) gels to produce areas for cell growth [21, 22], by destructing or impeding formation of 3D fibronectin matrices enclosing cells [43], by shedding of growth factors such as TGFβ from the extracellular matrix [44], or cleaving cell surface proteins such as notch 1 in melanoma cells [45].