title: RhoE is a pro-survival p53 target gene that inhibits ROCK I-mediated apoptosis in response to genotoxic stress.
abstract: The Rho family of GTPases regulates many aspects of cellular behavior through alterations to the actin cytoskeleton . The majority of the Rho family proteins function as molecular switches cycling between the active, GTP-bound and the inactive, GDP-bound conformations . Unlike typical Rho-family proteins, the Rnd subfamily members, including Rnd1, Rnd2, RhoE (also known as Rnd3), and RhoH, are GTPase deficient and are thus expected to be constitutively active . Here, we identify an unexpected role for RhoE/Rnd3 in the regulation of the p53-mediated stress response. We show that RhoE is a transcriptional p53 target gene and that genotoxic stress triggers actin depolymerization, resulting in actin-stress-fiber disassembly through p53-dependent RhoE induction. Silencing of RhoE induction in response to genotoxic stress maintains stress fiber formation and strikingly increases apoptosis, implying an antagonistic role for RhoE in p53-dependent apoptosis. We found that RhoE inhibits ROCK I (Rho-associated kinase I) activity during genotoxic stress and thereby suppresses apoptosis. We demonstrate that the p53-mediated induction of RhoE in response to DNA damage favors cell survival partly through inhibition of ROCK I-mediated apoptosis. Thus, RhoE is anticipated to function by regulating ROCK I signaling to control the balance between cell survival and cell death in response to genotoxic stress.
authors.affiliation: Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Pat P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Ongusaha
authors.forename: Hyung-Gu
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Boswell
authors.forename: Anne J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ridley
authors.forename: Channing J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Der
authors.forename: G Paolo
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Dotto
authors.forename: Young-Bum
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Aaronson
authors.forename: Sam W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival; D004249:DNA Damage; D005347:Fibroblasts; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D016158:Genes, p53; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
chemical_list: D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; C508705:RND3 protein, human; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins