Cell biology. Actin' up with Rac1.
The elegant architecture of photoreceptor cells in the retina is dependent on organization of the actin cytoskeleton during eye development. But what drives this organization? In an equally elegant Perspective, Colley explains new findings in fruit flies (Chang and Ready) that point to the photopigment rhodopsin and its signaling molecule the Rho GTPase Drac1 as the orchestrators of actin organization and the consequent assembly of the sensory membrane in the photoreceptor cell.
Colley
N J
NJ
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. njcolley@facstaff.wisc.edu
D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C090146:Rac1 protein, Drosophila; D012243:Rhodopsin; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins