Rho GTPases and the actin cytoskeleton.
The actin cytoskeleton mediates a variety of essential biological functions in all eukaryotic cells. In addition to providing a structural framework around which cell shape and polarity are defined, its dynamic properties provide the driving force for cells to move and to divide. Understanding the biochemical mechanisms that control the organization of actin is thus a major goal of contemporary cell biology, with implications for health and disease. Members of the Rho family of small guanosine triphosphatases have emerged as key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton, and furthermore, through their interaction with multiple target proteins, they ensure coordinated control of other cellular activities such as gene transcription and adhesion.
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Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, Cancer Research Campaign Oncogene and Signal Transduction Group, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. alan.hall@ucl.ac.uk
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002465:Cell Movement; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020743:rhoB GTP-Binding Protein
D000199:Actins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D020743:rhoB GTP-Binding Protein