| Primary Identifier | IPR037874 | Type | Family |
| Short Name | Cdc42 |
| description | Cdc42 is an essential GTPase that belongs to the Rho family of Ras-like GTPases. These proteins act as molecular switches by responding to exogenous and/or endogenous signals and relaying those signals to activate downstream components of a biological pathway. Cdc42 transduces signals to the actin cytoskeleton to initiate and maintain polarized growth and to mitogen-activated protein morphogenesis. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cdc42 plays an important role in multiple actin-dependent morphogenetic events such as bud emergence, mating-projection formation, and pseudohyphal growth []. In mammalian cells, Cdc42 regulates a variety of actin-dependent events and induces the JNK/SAPK protein kinase cascade, which leads to the activation of transcription factors within the nucleus []. Cdc42 mediates these processes through interactions with a myriad of downstream effectors, whose number and regulation we are just starting to understand. In addition, Cdc42 has been implicated in a number of human diseases through interactions with its regulators and downstream effectors []. |
