February 21 2006
9:30 LSB 2320

Abstract:

Rho is a small GTPase that controls multiple signal transduction pathways in response to a large variety of extra-cellular stimuli, but with over 15 potential Rho target proteins identified to date, it is not clear how distinct signaling outputs can be generated downstream of a particular stimulus. Several of the known Rho targets are structurally reminiscent of scaffold proteins, which are generally thought to play an important role in controlling signaling specificity. We have found that the Rho target CNK1 is a scaffold protein that interacts directly with both Rho-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) (i.e., activators of Rho), as well with components of Rho-dependent downstream pathways. We believe that CNK1 is a Rho target whose role is to promote activation of selected pathways in response to a specific input. Signal transduction pathways are often utilized cooperatively to elicit complex cellular effects and my future work will be directed towards understanding how Rho GTPase-regulated signaling pathways are specified and coordinated during epithelial morphogenesis.