title: Involvement of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav3 in central nervous system development and plasticity.
abstract: Small GTP-hydrolyzing enzymes (GTPases) of the RhoA family play manifold roles in cell biology and are regulated by upstream guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs). Herein, we focus on the GEFs of the Vav subfamily. Vav1 was originally described as a proto-oncogene of the hematopoietic lineage. The GEFs Vav2 and Vav3 are more broadly expressed in various tissues. In particular, the GEF Vav3 may play important roles in the developing nervous system during the differentiation of neural stem cells into the major lineages, namely neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. We discuss its putative regulatory roles for progenitor differentiation in the developing retina, polarization of neurons and formation of synapses, migration of oligodendrocyte progenitors and establishment of myelin sheaths. We propose that Vav3 mediates the response of various neural cell types to environmental cues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulc
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gottschling
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schäfer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wegrzyn
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Luft
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reinhard
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2211-8259
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faissner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D051567:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-vav / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D051567:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-vav
keywords: Rho GEFs; Rho GTPases; RhoA; Vav3; cytoskeletal reorganization; differentiation; proliferation; stem cell; synaptogenesis