IMR Press / FBL / Volume 14 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.2741/3298

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Regulation of epithelial apical junctional complex by Rho family GTPases
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1 Epithelial Pathobiology Research Unit, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2009, 14(3), 1129–1142; https://doi.org/10.2741/3298
Published: 1 January 2009
Abstract

The apical junctional complex (AJC), encompassing the tight junction (TJ) and adherens junction (AJ) plays a vital role in regulating epithelial cell differentiation and barrier function of simple epithelia. Both AJ and TJ are comprised of multiprotein complexes consisting of transmembrane proteins, which interact with the underlying cytoskeleton via cytoplasmic scaffold proteins. These interactions are tightly controlled by a number of signaling proteins that are critical for the regulation of the AJC function. Among these signaling molecules Rho family of small GTPases have been demonstrated to regulate the AJC function in diverse physiological and pathological states. In this review we will focus on experimental data addressing the role of Rho GTPase family members, Rho, Rac and Cdc42 in the regulation of epithelial AJC, and analyze Rho GTPase-mediated signaling pathways that control maintenance, disassembly and assembly of the AJC in epithelial cells.

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