title: Always look on the bright site of Rho: structural implications for a conserved intermolecular interface.
abstract: The signalling functions of Rho-family GTPases are based on the formation of distinctive protein-protein complexes. Invaluable insights into the structure-function relationships of the Rho GTPases have been obtained through the resolution of several of their structures in complex with regulators and downstream effectors. In this review, we use these complexes to compare the binding and specificity-determining sites of the Rho GTPases. Although the properties that characterize these sites are diverse, some fundamental conserved principles that govern their intermolecular interactions have emerged. Notably, all of the interacting partners of the Rho GTPases, irrespective of their function, bind to a common set of conserved amino acids that are clustered on the surface of the switch regions. This conserved region and its specific structural characteristics exemplify the convergence of the Rho GTPases on a consensus binding site.
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dvorsky
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ahmadian
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins