Small GTPases act as molecular switches in regulating a myriad of cellular signaling, cytoskeletal dynamics, vesicular trafficking, and membrane/organelle transport processes. Here, I provide an editorial overview of papers collected in this Special...
The RHO GTPases comprise a subfamily within the RAS superfamily of small GTP-hydrolyzing enzymes and have primarily been ascribed roles in regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics in eukaryotic cells. An oncogenic role for the RHO GTPases has been disrega...
The Rho family of GTPases represents highly conserved molecular switches involved in a plethora of physiological processes. Fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has become a fundamental model organism to study the functions of Rho GTPases over the...
RHO GTPases are a class of small molecules involved in the regulation of several cellular processes that belong to the RAS GTPase superfamily. The RHO family of GTPases includes several members that are further divided into two different groups: typi...
The Rho GTPase family accounts for as many as 20 members. Among them, the archetypes RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42 have been the most well-characterized. Like all members of the small GTPases superfamily, Rho proteins act as molecular switches to control cel...
Involvement of Rho GTPases in cancer has been a matter of debate since the identification of the first members of this branch of the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. The Rho GTPases were ascribed important roles in the cell, although these were rest...
Rho GTPases play central roles in numerous cellular processes, including cell motility, cell polarity, and cell cycle progression, by regulating actin cytoskeletal dynamics and cell adhesion. Dysregulation of Rho GTPase signaling is observed in a bro...
Rab GTPases, the largest family of small GTPases, are ubiquitously expressed proteins that control various aspects of cellular function, from cell survival to exocytosis. Rabs cycle between the GDP-bound inactive form and the GTP-bound active form. W...
Cancer is a genetic disease driven by the accumulation of mutations that disrupt normal cellular growth. Among the most frequently mutated families are protein kinases, inositol polyphosphate kinases, and GTPases, which together function as central m...
Neuronal migration is essential for the orchestration of brain development and involves several contiguous steps: interkinetic nuclear movement (INM), multipolar–bipolar transition, locomotion, and translocation. Growing evidence suggests that...
Emerging evidence suggests that crosstalk between hematologic tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment contributes to leukemia and lymphoma cell migration, survival, and proliferation. The supportive tumor cell-microenvironment interactions and the...
Monomeric GTPases, which belong to the Ras superfamily, are small proteins involved in many biological processes. They are fine-tuned regulated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs). Several families have...
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common tumor in the central nervous system in adults. This neoplasia shows a high capacity of growth and spreading to the surrounding brain tissue, hindering its complete surgical resection. Therefore, the finding of ne...
The Rho family of small GTPases (Rho GTPases) act as molecular switches that transduce extrinsic stimuli into cytoskeletal rearrangements. In vascular endothelial cells (ECs), Cdc42, Rac1, and RhoA control cell migration and cell–cell junctions downs...
Fear is a fundamental evolutionary process for survival. However, excess or irrational fear hampers normal activity and leads to phobia. The amygdala is the primary brain region associated with fear learning and conditioning. There, Rho GTPases are m...
Rho guanosine triphosphate hydrolases (GTPases) are molecular switches that cycle between an inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound and an active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound state during signal transduction. As such, they regulate a wide r...
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) belong to a heterogeneous group of neoplasms arising from hormone secreting cells. These tumors are often associated with a dysfunction of their secretory activity. Neuroendocrine secretion occurs through calcium-regulate...
Over eighty million people in the United States have cardiovascular disease that can affect the heart causing myocardial infarction; the carotid arteries causing stroke; and the lower extremities leading to amputation. The treatment for end-stage car...
Rho GDP dissociation inhibitors (RhoGDIs) play important roles in various cellular processes, including cell migration, adhesion, and proliferation, by regulating the functions of the Rho GTPase family. Dissociation of Rho GTPases from RhoGDIs is nec...
Small GTPases are key regulators of cellular events, and their dysfunction causes many types of cancer. They serve as molecular switches by cycling between inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound and active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound state...
The evolutionarily-conserved mitochondrial Rho (MIRO) small GTPase is a Ras superfamily member with three unique features. It has two GTPase domains instead of the one found in other small GTPases, and it also has two EF hand calcium binding domains,...
Small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) of the Rab and Arf families are key regulators of vesicle formation and membrane trafficking. Membrane transport plays an important role in the central nervous system. In this regard, neurons require a consta...
The Rho GTPases regulate many cellular signaling cascades that modulate cell motility, migration, morphology and cell division. A large body of work has now delineated the biochemical cues and pathways, which stimulate the GTPases and their downstrea...
Miro GTPases are key components in the machinery responsible for transporting mitochondria and peroxisomes along microtubules, and also play important roles in regulating calcium homeostasis and organizing contact sites between mitochondria and the e...
As membrane-associated master regulators of cytoskeletal remodeling, Rho GTPases coordinate a wide range of biological processes such as cell adhesion, motility, and polarity. In the last years, Rho GTPases have also been recognized to control intrac...
Rho guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) are key regulators in a number of cellular functions, including actin cytoskeleton remodeling and vesicle traffic. Traditionally, Rho GTPases are studied because of their function in cell migration and cancer,...
Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are a common cause of genetically inherited Parkinson’s Disease (PD). LRRK2 is a large, multi-domain protein belonging to the Roco protein family, a family of GTPases characterized by a central...
Rho family GTPases belong to the Ras GTPase superfamily and transduce intracellular signals known to regulate a variety of cellular processes, including cell polarity, morphogenesis, migration, apoptosis, vesicle trafficking, viral transport and cell...
Several small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) from the Ras protein superfamily regulate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in the pancreatic islet β-cell. The Rho family GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1 are primarily involved in relaying key signals in s...
Cells encounter countless external cues and the specificity of their responses is translated through a myriad of tightly regulated intracellular signals. For this, Rho GTPases play a central role and transduce signals that contribute to fundamental c...
Rho-class small GTPases are implicated in basic cellular processes at nearly all brain developmental steps, from neurogenesis and migration to axon guidance and synaptic plasticity. GTPases are key signal transducing enzymes that link extracellular c...
Rho GTPases regulate cellular morphology and dynamics, and some are key drivers of cancer progression. This superfamily offers attractive potential targets for therapeutic intervention, with RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42 being prime examples. The challenges i...
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is the main cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea prevailing in hospital settings. In the past decade, the morbidity and mortality of C. difficile infection (CDI) has increased significantly due to the emergence...
Small guanosine triphosphate hydrolases (GTPases) of the Rab family are involved in plasma membrane delivery, fusion events, and lysosomal and autophagic degradation pathways, thereby regulating signaling pathways and cell differentiation and functio...
Numerous experimental studies demonstrate that the Ras homolog family of guanosine triphosphate hydrolases (Rho GTPases) Ras homolog family member A (RhoA), Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1) and cell division cycle 42 (Cdc42) are impo...
Small GTPases largely control membrane traffic, which is essential for the survival of all eukaryotes. Among the small GTP-binding proteins, ARF1 (ADP-ribosylation factor 1) and SAR1 (Secretion-Associated RAS super family 1) are commonly conserved am...
The Apicomplexa are obligate intracellular parasites responsible for several important human diseases. These protozoan organisms have evolved several strategies to modify the host cell environment to create a favorable niche for their survival. The h...
Rho GTPases, a family of the Ras GTPase superfamily, are key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. They were originally thought to primarily affect cell migration and invasion; however, recent advances in our understanding of the biology and function...
Many facets of ribosome biogenesis and function, including ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription, 70S assembly and protein translation, are negatively impacted upon induction of a nutrient stress-sensing signalling pathway termed the stringent response....
Non-bilaterian animals consist of four phyla; Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, and Placozoa. These early-diverging animals are crucial for understanding the evolution of the entire animal lineage. The Rho family of proteins make up a major branch of t...
Myosin XI-K plays an important role in cell expansion and polarized growth, acting as a motor protein that drives organelle trafficking and cytoplasmic streaming. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of myosin XI-K’s role in the polarized grow...
Small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) of the Ras superfamily are key regulators of many key cellular events such as proliferation, differentiation, cell cycle regulation, migration, or apoptosis. To control these biological responses, GTPases act...
Rab proteins compose the largest family of small GTPases and control the different steps of intracellular membrane traffic. More recently, they have been shown to also regulate cell signaling, division, survival, and migration. The regulation of thes...
Rab GTPases are major coordinators of intracellular membrane trafficking, including vesicle transport, membrane fission, tethering, docking, and fusion events. Rab GTPases are roughly divided into two groups: conventional “small” Rab GTPases and atyp...
Small GTPases play important roles in the growth, development and environmental responses of eukaryotes. Based on the genomic sequence of the straw mushroom Volvariella volvacea, 44 small GTPases were identified. A clustering analysis using human sma...
Rab GTPases (Rabs) are small proteins that play crucial roles in vesicle transport and membrane trafficking. Owing to their widespread functions in several steps of vesicle trafficking, Rabs have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several disorde...
Rho proteins of plants (ROPs) form a specific clade of Rho GTPases, which are involved in either plant immunity or susceptibility to diseases. They are intensively studied in grass host plants, in which ROPs are signaling hubs downstream of both cell...
The extracellular matrix (ECM) has been identified as a critical factor affecting synaptic function. It forms a functional scaffold that provides both the structural support and the reservoir of signaling molecules necessary for communication between...
Both RIT1 and RIT2 are members of the RAS superfamily of small GTPases, which regulate various cellular processes. RIT1 is widely expressed, whereas RIT2 is primarily found in neuronal tissues. Dysregulation of these proteins has been associated with...
Rho proteins operate as key regulators of the cytoskeleton, cell morphology and trafficking. Acting as molecular switches, the function of Rho GTPases is determined by guanosine triphosphate (GTP)/guanosine diphosphate (GDP) exchange and their lipida...
of 25