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Abstract
Actin cytoskeleton is one of the main targets of Rho GTPases, which act as molecular switches on many signaling pathways. During the past decade, actin has emerged as an important regulator of gene expression. Nuclear actin plays a key role in transcription, chromatin remodeling, and pre-mRNA processing. In addition, the “status” of the actin cytoskeleton is used as a signaling intermediate by at least the MKL1-SRF and Hippo-pathways, which culminate in the transcriptional regulation of cytoskeletal and growth-promoting genes, respectively. Rho GTPases may therefore regulate gene expression by controlling either cytoplasmic or nuclear actin dynamics. Although the regulation of nuclear actin polymerization is still poorly understood, many actin-binding proteins, which are downstream effectors of Rho, are found in the nuclear compartment. In this review, we discuss the possible mechanisms and key proteins that may mediate the transcriptional regulation by Rho GTPases through actin.
Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
No potential conflicts of interest were closed.
Acknowledgments
We apologize to those authors whose data we have not been able to cite due to space limitations. We thank members of the Vartiainen-lab for critical comments on the manuscript. The work in the lab of M.K.V. is funded by Academy of Finland, ERC Starting grant, and Sigrid Juselius foundation. E.K.R. is funded by the Viikki Doctoral Program in Molecular Biosciences.