Inducible recruitment of Cdc42 or WASP to a cell-surface receptor triggers actin polymerization and filopodium formation

Lien vers Pubmed [PMID] – 10209117

Curr. Biol. 1999 Apr;9(7):351-60

Cdc42, a GTP-binding protein of the Rho family, controls actin cytoskeletal organization and helps to generate actin-based protruding structures, such as filopodia. In vitro, Cdc42 regulates actin polymerization by facilitating the creation of free barbed ends – the more rapidly growing ends of actin filaments – and subsequent elongation at these ends. The Wiskott- Aldrich syndrome protein, WASP, which has a pleckstrin-homology domain and a Cdc42/Rac-binding motif, has been implicated in cell signaling and cytoskeleton reorganization. We have investigated the consequences of local recruitment of activated Cdc42 or WASP to the plasma membrane.