Signaling by Rho GTPases

RHO GTPases regulate cell behavior by activating a number of downstream effectors that regulate cytoskeletal organization, intracellular trafficking and transcription (reviewed by Sahai and Marshall 2002). They are best known for their ability to induce dynamic rearrangements of the plasma membrane-associated actin cytoskeleton. Beyond this function, Rho GTPases also regulate actomyosin contractility and microtubule dynamics. Rho mediated effects on transcription and membrane trafficking are believed to be secondary to these functions. At the more macroscopic level, Rho GTPases have been implicated in many important cell biological processes, including cell growth control, cytokinesis, cell motility, cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion, cell transformation and invasion, and development. One of the best studied RHO GTPase effectors are protein kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2, which phosphorylate many proteins involved in the stabilization of actin filaments and generation of actin-myosin contractile force, such as LIM kinases and myosin regulatory light chains (MRLC) (reviewed in Riento and Ridley 2003). The p21-activated kinase family, which includes PAK1, PAK2 and PAK3, is another well characterized family of RHO GTPase effectors involved in cytoskeleton regulation (reviewed in Daniels and Bokoch 1999, Szczepanowska 2009). Protein kinase C related kinases (PKNs), PKN1, PKN2 and PKN3 play important roles in cytoskeleton organization, regulation of cell cycle, receptor trafficking, apoptosis, and transcription. Citron kinase (CIT) is involved in Golgi apparatus organization through regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and in the regulation of cytokinesis. Kinectin (KTN1), a kinesin anchor protein, is a RHO GTPase effector involved in kinesin-mediated vesicle motility, including microtubule-dependent lysosomal transport. IQGAP proteins, IQGAP1, IQGAP2 and IQGAP3, are RHO GTPase effectors that modulate cell shape and motility through regulation of G-actin/F-actin equilibrium, regulate adherens junctions, and contribute to cell polarity and lamellipodia formation. WASP and WAVE proteins (reviewed by Lane et al. 2014), as well as formins (reviewed by Kuhn and Geyer 2014), are RHO GTPase effectors that regulate actin polymerization and play important roles in cell motility, organelle trafficking and mitosis. Rhotekin (RTKN) and rhophilins (RHPN1 and RHPN2) are RHO GTPase effectors that regulate the organization of the actin cytoskeleton and are implicated in the establishment of cell polarity, cell motility and possibly endosome trafficking. Cytoskeletal changes triggered by the activation of formins and RTKN may lead to stimulation of SRF-mediated transcription. NADPH oxidase complexes 1, 2 and 3 (NOX1, NOX2 and NOX3), membrane associated enzymatic complexes that use NADPH as an electron donor to reduce oxygen and produce superoxide (O2-), are also regulated by RHO GTPases. Every RHO GTPase activates multiple downstream effectors and most effectors are regulated by multiple RHO GTPases, resulting in an elaborate cross-talk.