Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Feb;15(2):83-91.
doi: 10.1038/nrurol.2017.184. Epub 2017 Nov 14.

The Rho GTPase signalling pathway in urothelial carcinoma

Solomon L Woldu  1 , Ryan C Hutchinson  1 , Laura-Maria Krabbe  1 , Oner Sanli  1 , Vitaly Margulis  1
Affiliations
Review

The Rho GTPase signalling pathway in urothelial carcinoma

Solomon L Woldu et al. Nat Rev Urol. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

Urothelial carcinoma remains a clinical challenge: non-muscle-invasive disease has a high rate of recurrence and risk of progression, and outcomes for patients with advanced disease are poor, owing to a lack of effective systemic therapies. The Rho GTPase family of enzymes was first identified >30 years ago and contains >20 members, which are divided into eight subfamilies: Cdc42, Rac, Rho, RhoUV, RhoBTB, RhoDF, RhoH, and Rnd. Rho GTPases are molecular on-off switches, which are increasingly being understood to have a critical role in a number of cellular processes, including cell migration, cell polarity, cell adhesion, cell cycle progression, and regulation of the cytoskeleton. This switch is an evolutionarily conserved system in which GTPases alternate between GDP-bound (inactive) and GTP-bound (active) forms. The activities of these Rho GTPases are many, context-dependent, and regulated by a number of proteins that are being progressively elucidated. Aberrations of the Rho GTPase signalling pathways have been implicated in various malignancies, including urothelial carcinoma, and understanding of the role of Rho GTPases in these diseases is increasing. This signalling pathway has the potential for therapeutic targeting in urothelial carcinoma. Research in this area is nascent, and much work is necessary before current laboratory-based research can be translated into the clinic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Nucleic Acids Res. 2015 Jan;43(Database issue):D805-11 - PubMed
    1. Rev Urol. 2008 Winter;10(1):31-43 - PubMed
    1. Nat Med. 2013 Nov;19(11):1423-37 - PubMed
    1. J Biol Chem. 2000 Jan 21;275(3):1829-38 - PubMed
    1. Urol Clin North Am. 1992 Aug;19(3):429-33 - PubMed

MeSH terms