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Identification of the first Rho-GEF inhibitor, TRIP alpha, which targets the RhoA-specific GEF domain of Trio

Schmidt, S.; Diriong, S.; Mery, J.; Fabbrizio, E.; Debant, A.

Febs Letters

2002-07-17 / vol 523 / pages 35-42

Abstract

The Rho-guanine nucleotide exchange factors (Rho-GEFs) remodel the actin cytoskeleton via their Rho-GTPase targets and affect numerous physiological processes such as transformation and cell motility. They are therefore attractive targets to design specific inhibitors that may have therapeutic applications. Trio contains two Rho-GEF domains, GEFD1 and GEFD2, which activate the Rac and RhoA pathways, respectively. Here we have used a genetic screen in yeast to select in vivo peptides coupled to thioredoxin, called aptamers, that could inhibit GEFD2 activity. One aptamer, TRIAPalpha (TRio Inhibitory APtamer), specifically blocks GEFD2-exchange activity on RhoA in vitro. The corresponding peptide sequence, TRIPalpha, inhibits TrioGEFD2-mediated activation of RhoA in intact cells and specifically reverts the neurite retraction phenotype induced by TrioGEFD2 in PC12 cells. Thus TRIPalpha is the first Rho-GEF inhibitor isolated so far, and represents an important step in the design of inhibitors for the expanding family of Rho-GEFs. (C) 2002 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

0014-5793

Tags

actin; phosphatase; binding protein-rho; cell; cytoskeleton; drosophila; exchange factor; gtpases; involvement; nucleotide exchange factor; pc12 cell; peptide aptamer; peptide aptamers; rho-gtpase; trio

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