The Rac GTP exchange factor TIAM-1 acts with CDC-42 and the guidance receptor UNC-40/DCC in neuronal protrusion and axon guidance.

ABSTRACT: The mechanisms linking guidance receptors to cytoskeletal dynamics in the growth cone during axon extension remain mysterious. The Rho-family GTPases Rac and CDC-42 are key regulators of growth cone lamellipodia and filopodia formation, yet little is understood about how these molecules interact in growth cone outgrowth or how the activities of these molecules are regulated in distinct contexts. UNC-73/Trio is a well-characterized Rac GTP exchange factor in Caenorhabditis elegans axon pathfinding, yet UNC-73 does not control CED-10/Rac downstream of UNC-6/Netrin in attractive axon guidance. Here we show that C. elegans TIAM-1 is a Rac-specific GEF that links CDC-42 and Rac signaling in lamellipodia and filopodia formation downstream of UNC-40/DCC. We also show that TIAM-1 acts with UNC-40/

SUBMITTER: Demarco RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3343084 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature