The Rho GTPases in Cancer, 2010

Channing Der and colleagues provide an encyclopedic overview of the Rho GTPases, providing enough detail to make any reader well-versed in the Rho field. Finally, Sofia Merajver?s laboratory provides an overview, which details the roles of the Rho proteins in cancer progression. She provides us with the history of the study of the Rho GTPases, their regulatory and effector proteins in cancer and gives us a benchmark of where the field is today. The second section of the book details the current knowledge of the Rho regu- tory proteins in cancer progression: aberrant expression and activation of these proteins leads to dysfunctional Rho signaling and a cancer phenotype. Gary Bokoch?s laboratory has provided a detailed overview of the role of Rho guanine dissociation inhibitors (GDIs) in cancer. These molecules are involved in preventing the Rho protein from associating with the inner plasma membrane and exchanging GDP for GTP, and thus becoming active. Next, Tozu Kazasa?s labo- tory has worked on the link between heterotrimeric G proteins and Rho activation via the RGS?RhoGEFs. This aspect of Rho activation is particularly interesting in that heterotrimeric G proteins and their associated G-protein-coupled receptors are attractive and attainable therapeutic targets. Dan Billadeau?s laboratory has worked extensively on the Vav RhoGEFs, which are potent oncogenes in their own right.

Table of Contents Preface i. Introduction v. Aron Jaffe and Alan Hall List of Contributors xix. Section I- An Overview of the Rho GTPases Chapter 1. Overview of Rho GTPase History 1. Ellen V. Stevens and Channing J. Der Chapter 2. Rho GTPases and Cancer 43. Devin T. Rosenthal, John Chadwick Brenner, and Sofia D. Merajver Section II- The Rho Regulatory Proteins in Cancer Chapter 3. RhoGDIs in Cancer 67. Anthony N. Anselmo, Gary M. Bokoch, and Céline DerMardirossian Chapter 4. Signaling through Galpha12/13 and RGS-RhoGEFs 93. Nicole Hajicek, Barry Kreutz and Tozu Kazasa Chapter 5. Vav Proteins In Cancer 126. Daniel D. Billadeau Chapter 6. Rho GTPase-Activating Proteins in Cancer 156. Matthew W. Grogg and Yi Zheng Section III- The Rho GTPase Proteins and Cancer Chapter 7. RhoBTB Proteins in Cancer 182. Caroline McKinnon and Harry Mellor Chapter 8. RhoC GTPase in Cancer Progression and Metastasis 197. Kenneth L. van Golen Chapter 9. RhoB GTPase and Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitors (FTIs) in Cancer 219. Minzhou Huang, Lisa D. Laury-Kleintop and George C. Prendergast Chapter 10. Regulation of Rho GTPase Activity Through Phosphorylation Events: A Brief Overview 257. Heather Unger and Kenneth L. van Golen Chapter 11. The Rho-Regulated ROCK Kinases in Cancer 273. Grant R. Wickman, Michael Samuel, Pamela A. Lochhead and Michael F. Olson