Glossary
Transgenic Organism
Transgenesis is the process of introducing an exogenous gene – called a transgene – into a living organism so that the organism will exhibit a new property and transmit that property to its offspring.
Rho
The Rho family of GTPases is a family of small (~21 kDa) signaling G protein (more specific, a GTPase), and is a subfamily of the superfamily named ‘Ras-like’ proteins. The members of the Rho GTPase family regulate many aspects of intracellular actin dynamics, and are found in all eukaryotic organisms. Three members of the family have been studied a great deal: Cdc42, Rac1, and RhoA. Rho proteins have been described as "molecular switches" and play a role in cell proliferation, apoptosis, gene expression, and multiple other common cellular functions. Rho proteins are involved in a wide variety of cellular functions such as cell polarity, vesicular trafficking, the cell cycle and transcriptomal dynamics. Three general classes of regulators of rho protein signaling have been identified: guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEFs), GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) and guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors (GDIs). GEFs control the release of GDP from the rho protein and the replacement with GTP. GAPs control the ability of the GTPase to hydrolyze GTP to GDP, controlling the natural rate of movement from the active conformation to the inactive conformation. GDI proteins form a large complex with the rho protein helping to prevent diffusion within the membrane and into the cytosol, thus acting as an anchor and allowing for very specific spatial control of rho activation
tl;dr: Signaling G-protiens, GTPases that hydrolyze GTP to GDP, and transfer the obtained phosphate group to elicit signaling pathways that regulate actin-cytoskeleton dynamics to organize cell polarity that preceeds cellular processes such as budding, mitosis, or locomotion.
Transgenesis is the process of introducing an exogenous gene – called a transgene – into a living organism so that the organism will exhibit a new property and transmit that property to its offspring.
Rho
The Rho family of GTPases is a family of small (~21 kDa) signaling G protein (more specific, a GTPase), and is a subfamily of the superfamily named ‘Ras-like’ proteins. The members of the Rho GTPase family regulate many aspects of intracellular actin dynamics, and are found in all eukaryotic organisms. Three members of the family have been studied a great deal: Cdc42, Rac1, and RhoA. Rho proteins have been described as "molecular switches" and play a role in cell proliferation, apoptosis, gene expression, and multiple other common cellular functions. Rho proteins are involved in a wide variety of cellular functions such as cell polarity, vesicular trafficking, the cell cycle and transcriptomal dynamics. Three general classes of regulators of rho protein signaling have been identified: guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEFs), GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) and guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors (GDIs). GEFs control the release of GDP from the rho protein and the replacement with GTP. GAPs control the ability of the GTPase to hydrolyze GTP to GDP, controlling the natural rate of movement from the active conformation to the inactive conformation. GDI proteins form a large complex with the rho protein helping to prevent diffusion within the membrane and into the cytosol, thus acting as an anchor and allowing for very specific spatial control of rho activation
tl;dr: Signaling G-protiens, GTPases that hydrolyze GTP to GDP, and transfer the obtained phosphate group to elicit signaling pathways that regulate actin-cytoskeleton dynamics to organize cell polarity that preceeds cellular processes such as budding, mitosis, or locomotion.