The role of the Rho GTPases in neuronal development.

By E. Govek, S. Newey, L. Van Aelst. Genes & Development, 2005

1,008 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Our brain serves as a center for cognitive function and neurons within the brain relay and store information about our surroundings and experiences. Modulation of this complex neuronal circuitry allows us to process that information and respond appropriately. Proper development of neurons is therefore vital to the mental health of an individual, and perturbations in their signaling or morphology are likely to result in cognitive impairment. The development of a neuron requires a series of steps that begins with migration from its birth place and initiation of process outgrowth, and ultimately leads to differentiation and the formation of connections that allow it to communicate with appropriate targets. Over the past several years, it has become clear that the Rho family of GTPases and related molecules play an important role in various aspects of neuronal development, including neurite outgrowth and differentiation, axon pathfinding, and dendritic spine formation and maintenance. Given the importance of these molecules in these processes, it is therefore not surprising that mutations in genes encoding a number of regulators and effectors of the Rho GTPases have been associated with human neurological diseases. This review will focus on the role of the Rho GTPases and their associated signaling molecules throughout neuronal development and discuss how perturbations in Rho GTPase signaling may lead to cognitive disorders.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b79edb208212291fb6bc6a57988eb62e8e992f14

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Citations in the corpus

Axon pruning: an essential step underlying the developmental plasticity of neuronal connections (2006, background): “The Rho family of small GTPases are attractive candidate molecules because they have been shown to be important regulators of cytoskeletal dynamics (Luo 2000; Billuart et al. 2001; Ng et al. 2002; Govek et al. 2005 ).”
Maturation and integration of adult born hippocampal neurons: signal convergence onto small Rho GTPases (2013, background): “…important and central regulators of cell cytoarchitecture in different cell types and play important roles in modulating cell migration, neurite outgrowth, survival, as well as synapse formation in neurons (Govek et al., 2005; Newey et al., 2005; Watabe-Uchida et al., 2006; Svitkina et al., 2010).”
Mammalian Rho GTPases: new insights into their functions from in vivo studies (2008, background): “Studies of dominant negative and constitutively active mutants have implicated CDC42 in filopodium extension in growth cones and in multiple aspects of neuronal development, including neurite extension, axon specification and axon guidanc”
The trip of the tip: understanding the growth cone machinery (2009, background): “, our most comprehensive understanding is of the Rho family of GTPases, a class of molecules that control cytoskeletal dynamics downstream of nearly all guidance signalling receptor”
Evidence for a cytokine model of cognitive function. (2009, background): “synaptogenesis and dendritic branching) and cognition (Chechlacz and Gleeson, 2003; Govek et al., 2005; Meng et al., 2005; Newey et al., 2005; Ramakers, 2002).”
Stage-Specific Functions of the Small Rho GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1 for Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis (2013, methodology): “Studies in the past have mainly relied on in vitro models to explore the functions of small Rho GTPases and have shown that they are central signaling moieties that play diverse roles in cell division, shape, motility, and polarity (for review, see Govek et al., 2005).”