Rho GTPase function in flies: insights from a developmental and organismal perspective.

Morphogenesis is a key event in the development of a multicellular organism and is reliant on coordinated transcriptional and signal transduction events. To establish the segmented body plan that underlies much of metazoan development, individual cells and groups of cells must respond to exogenous signals with complex movements and shape changes. One class of proteins that plays a pivotal role in the interpretation of extracellular cues into cellular behavior is the Rho family of small GTPases. These molecular switches are essential components of a growing number of signaling pathways, many of which regulate actin cytoskeletal remodeling. Much of our understanding of Rho biology has come from work done in cell culture. More recently, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as an excellent genetic system for the study of these proteins in a developmental and organismal context. Studies in flies have greatly enhanced our understanding of pathways involving Rho GTPases and their roles in development

Regulation of the MAPK family members: Role of subcellular localization and architectural organization

The members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family are regulated by a diverse array of extracellular cues ranging from cytokines, growth factors and neuropeptides, which activate cell surface receptors, to stresses such as cold, heat, osmolarity changes and irradiation. The MAPK pathways control genetic expression by modifying transcription factor activity and cue important cell fate decisions including survival, proliferation, and programmed cell death (apoptosis). One interesting feature of the MAPK pathways is that the components are evolutionarily conserved from yeast to human, and many of the pathways are similarly organized and regulated. Unlike previously imagined, architectural organization or the multimeric organization of signaling proteins into complexes which are localized to distinct subcellular regions is an important mechanism that influences the regulation of these pathways. In addition, extracellular stimuli can induce relocalization of specific signal transduction proteins. The formation of multimeric signaling complexes, as well as the dynamic movement of signaling proteins, contribute to determine signaling specificity and efficacy. This review describes what is currently known about the subcellular localization of MAPK pathway signaling proteins and the relocalization that occurs during events associated with activation of the MAPK family members