J Cancer 2022; 13(3):800-814. doi:10.7150/jca.65415 This issue Cite
Review
1. Graduate School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, P.R. China.
2. Medical Affairs Office, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin, P.R. China.
3. Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, P.R. China.
4. Nankai University School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R.China.
5. Department of Pathology, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin, P.R. China.
# These authors equally contributed to the paper.
Rho-GTPases control a variety of cellular functions mainly by regulating microtubule and actin dynamics, affecting the cytoskeleton, and are important regulators of the structural plasticity of dendrites and spines. Members of the Rho-GTPase family include Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1), RhoA (Ras homologous), and cell division control protein 42 (Cdc42). Cdc42 is involved in the regulation of a variety of tumor and non-tumor diseases through a cascade of multiple signaling pathways. Active Cdc42 can regulate intercellular adhesion, cytoskeleton formation, and cell cycle, thus affecting cell proliferation, transformation, and dynamic balance as well as migration and invasion of tumor cells by regulating the expression of effector proteins. Here we discuss the role of Cdc42 in promoting metastasis, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and angiogenesis in malignant tumors. The significant role of Cdc42 in non-tumor diseases is also discussed. Since Cdc42 plays a central role in the development of various diseases, small molecule inhibitors targeting Cdc42 have important clinical significance in the prevention and treatment of these diseases.
Keywords: cell division control protein 42, effector proteins, malignant tumors, benign diseases