Source

Rabbit

Reactivity

Human;Mouse;Rat;Monkey

Background

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome proteins mediate actin dynamics by activating the Arp2/3 actin nucleation complex in response to activated Rho family GTPases. In mammals, five WASP family members have been described. Hematopoietic WASP and ubiquitously expressed N-WASP are autoinhibited in unstimulated cells. Upon stimulation they are activated by cdc42, which relieves the autoinhibition in conjunction with phosphatidyl inositol 4,5-bisphosphate. Three WAVE family proteins are similar in sequence to WASP and N-WASP but lack the WASP/N-WASP autoinhibition domains and are indirectly activated by Rac. Both WASP and WAVE functions appear to be essential, as knockout of either N-WASP or Scar-2 in mice results in cardiac and neuronal defects and embryonic lethality. Loss of WASP results in immune system defects and fewer immune cells. WAVE-2 is widely distributed, while WAVE-1 and WAVE-3 are strongly expressed in brain. WAVE-3 may act as a tumor suppressor in neuroblastoma, a childhood disease of the sympathetic nervous system. Increased expression of WAVE-3 is seen in breast cancer, and studies in breast adenocarcinoma cells indicate that WAVE-3 regulates breast cancer progression, invasion and metastasis through the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

References

[1] Millard, T.H. et al. (2004) Biochem J. 380, 1-17.
[2] Yan, C. et al. (2003) EMBO J. 22, 3602-3612.
[3] Snapper, S.B. et al. (2001) Nat. Cell Biol. 3, 897-904.
[4] Zhang, J. et al. (1999) J. Exp. Med. 190, 1329-4132.
[5] Suetsugu, S. et al. (1999) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 260, 296-302.
[6] Sossey-Alaoui, K. et al. (2002) Oncogene 21, 5967-5974.
[7] Sossey-Alaoui, K. et al. (2005) Exp. Cell Res. 308, 135-145.
[8] Sossey-Alaoui, K. et al. (2007) Am J Pathol 170, 2112-21.

Raw materials

Preparation Products