miR-124-regulated RhoG: A conductor of neuronal process complexity

RhoG is a member of the Rho family of small GTPases sharing highest sequence similarity with Rac and Cdc42. Mig-2 and Mtl represent the functional equivalents of RhoG in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila, respectively. RhoG has attracted great interest because it plays a central role in the regulation of cytoskeletal reorganization in various physiological and pathophysiological situations. For example, it is fundamental to phagocytotic processes, is able to regulate gene expression, cell survival and proliferation, and is involved in cell migration and in the invasion of pathogenic bacteria. The activation of Rac1 via an ELMO/Dock180 module has been elaborated to be important for RhoG signaling. Although a stimulatory role for neurite outgrowth in the pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line has been assigned to RhoG, the exact function of this GTPase for the development of the processes of primary neurons remains to be clarified. In this view, we discuss the impact of RhoG on axonal and dendritic differentiation, its role as a conductor of Rac1 and Cdc42 activity and the functional regulation of RhoG expression by the microRNA miR-124.