The completion of neural tube closure requires small GTPase-regulated membrane protrusions from non-neural ectoderm cells at the tips of the neural folds.
Plexin controls the spatial distribution of synapses by locally inhibiting Rap2 small GTPase activity along the axon, and a Rap2 effector, TNIK, which also plays a key role in inhibiting synapse number.
High resolution structures of the essential human AAA+ ATPase TorsinA and its disease mutant in complex with an activator reveal details of the interaction that will guide drug design and further functional characterization.
Conditional knockout of the small GTPase Cdc42 in excitatory neurons of the mouse forebrain leads to impaired long-term synaptic plasticity and impaired retrieval of remote memory.
A posttranslational regulatory mechanism for a Ras family small GTPase could open up new directions to understand and control the Ras family of proteins that are important for physiology and diseases.