title: Activation of the nuclear factor-kappaB by Rho, CDC42, and Rac-1 proteins.
abstract: The Rho family of small GTPases are critical elements involved in the regulation of signal transduction cascades from extracellular stimuli to the cell nucleus, including the JNK/SAPK signaling pathway, the c-fos serum response factor, and the p70 S6 kinase. Here we report a novel signaling pathway activated by the Rho proteins that may be responsible for their biological activities, including cytoskeleton organization, transformation, apoptosis, and metastasis. The human RhoA, CDC42, and Rac-1 proteins efficiently induce the transcriptional activity of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) by a mechanism that involves phosphorylation of Ikappa Balpha and translocation of p50/p50 and p50/p65 dimers to the nucleus, but independent of the Ras GTPase and the Raf-1 kinase. We also show that activation of NF-kappaB by TNFalpha depends on CDC42 and RhoA, but not Rac-1 proteins, because this activity is drastically inhibited by their respective dominant-negative mutants. In contrast, activation of NF-kappaB by UV light was not affected by Rho, CDC42, or Rac-1 dominant-negative mutants. Thus, members of the Rho family of GTPases are involved specifically in the regulation of NF-kappaB-dependent transcription.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perona
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montaner
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saniger
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Pérez
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lacal
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; C501009:HRAS protein, human; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins