The evolutionary history of effectors downstream of Cdc42 and Rac.
Cdc42 and Rac--ancient, highly conserved, small GTPases--mediate extracellular signals, triggering changes in transcription and in the actin cytoskeleton. Although dozens of proteins act downstream of these GTPases, a comparison of effector proteins from evolutionarily diverse organisms suggests that six groups of proteins serve as the core machinery for signaling from Cdc42 and Rac.
Cotteret
Sophie
S
Fox Chase Cancer Center, 7701 Burholme Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA. J_Chernoff@fccc.edu
Chernoff
Jonathan
J
D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins