"Switch to kill, switch to survive" – bacterial toxins modifying Rho GTPases

FLIPping the kill switch

I t's always wise to consult others before making a big decision, so a cell seeks input from a lot of different proteins before choosing between survival and death by apoptosis. Fricker et al. describe how one particular protein— cFLIP—can nudge a cell in either direction depending on the expression levels of its three different isoforms (1). Cells contemplate suicide in response to a number of...

To SWiTCH or not to SWiTCH?

In this issue of Blood, Ware and Helms report results from the Stroke With Transfusions Changing To Hydroxyurea (SWiTCH) study designed to determine whether hydroxyurea is as effective as transfusions in preventing recurrent strokes in children with sickle cell anemia. The finding of strokes in 7 of 67 children receiving hydroxyurea but none in 66 children who received transfusions led the auth...

AB Toxins: A Paradigm Switch from Deadly to Desirable

To ensure their survival, a number of bacterial and plant species have evolved a common strategy to capture energy from other biological systems. Being imperfect pathogens, organisms synthesizing multi-subunit AB toxins are responsible for the mortality of millions of people and animals annually. Vaccination against these organisms and their toxins has proved rather ineffective in providing lon...

A phosphorylation switch controls the spatiotemporal activation of Rho GTPases in directional cell migration

Although cell migration plays a central role in development and disease, the underlying molecular mechanism is not fully understood. Here we report that a phosphorylation-mediated molecular switch comprising deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1), tensin-3 (TNS3), phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) and phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) controls the spatiotemporal activation of the small GTPases, ...

Erratum: A phosphorylation switch controls the spatiotemporal activation of Rho GTPases in directional cell migration