title: Insights into the biological functions of Dock family guanine nucleotide exchange factors.
abstract: Rho GTPases play key regulatory roles in many aspects of embryonic development, regulating processes such as differentiation, proliferation, morphogenesis, and migration. Two families of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) found in metazoans, Dbl and Dock, are responsible for the spatiotemporal activation of Rac and Cdc42 proteins and their downstream signaling pathways. This review focuses on the emerging roles of the mammalian DOCK family in development and disease. We also discuss, when possible, how recent discoveries concerning the biological functions of these GEFs might be exploited for the development of novel therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), Montréal, Quebec H2W 1R7, Canada;
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laurin
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Côté
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D048788:Growth and Development / Q000235:genetics*; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: Dock180; Elmo; migration; mouse models; myoblast fusion; neurogenesis