Functional Conservation of the Small GTPase Rho5/Rac1-A Tale of Yeast and Men.
Linnet BischofFranziska SchweitzerJürgen J HeinischPublished in: Cells (2024)
Small GTPases are molecular switches that participate in many essential cellular processes. Amongst them, human Rac1 was first described for its role in regulating actin cytoskeleton dynamics and cell migration, with a close relation to carcinogenesis. More recently, the role of Rac1 in regulating the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), both as a subunit of NADPH oxidase complexes and through its association with mitochondrial functions, has drawn attention. Malfunctions in this context affect cellular plasticity and apoptosis, related to neurodegenerative diseases and diabetes. Some of these features of Rac1 are conserved in its yeast homologue Rho5. Here, we review the structural and functional similarities and differences between these two evolutionary distant proteins and propose yeast as a useful model and a device for high-throughput screens for specific drugs.
Keyphrases
- cell migration
- high throughput
- reactive oxygen species
- saccharomyces cerevisiae
- oxidative stress
- protein kinase
- genome wide
- endothelial cells
- cell death
- type diabetes
- cell wall
- working memory
- cardiovascular disease
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- smooth muscle
- dna damage
- cell cycle arrest
- gene expression
- dna methylation
- adipose tissue
- transcription factor
- skeletal muscle
- weight loss
- metabolic syndrome