Rac1

Rac1 is a small (~21 kDa) signaling G protein (more specifically a GTPase) and is a member of the Rac subfamily of the family Rho family of GTPases. Members of this superfamily appear to regulate a diverse array of cellular events, including the control of GLUT4 translocation to glucose uptake, cell growth, cytoskeletal reorganization, antimicrobial cytotoxicity, and the activation of protein kinases.

Rac1 is a pleiotropic regulator of many cellular processes, including the cell cycle, cell-cell adhesion, motility (through the actin network), and epithelial differentiation (proposed to be necessary for maintaining epidermal stem cells).

Zhang et al crucially identified that KIF4A drives glioma growth by Rac1/Cdc42 transcriptional repressors to induce cytoskeletal remodeling in glioma cells. Knockdown of KIF4A decreased RohA, Rac1, Cdc42, Pak1 and Pak2 expression level. The study provided a prospect that KIF4A functions as an oncogene in glioma ¹⁾.