Abstract The Rho GTPases—RHOA, RAC1 and CDC42—are small GTP binding proteins
that regulate basic biological processes such as cell locomotion, cell division and …

A conserved molecular machinery centered on the Cdc42 GTPase regulates cell polarity in
diverse organisms. Here we review findings from budding and fission yeasts that reveal both …

One of the major challenges in modern biology is to understand how the molecular
components of a living cell operate in a highly noisy environment. What are the specific …

Dynamic patterning of specific proteins is essential for the spatio-temporal regulation of
many important intracellular processes in prokaryotes, eukaryotes and multicellular …

The actomyosin cell cortex is an active contractile material for driving cell-and tissue
morphogenesis. The cortex has a tendency to form a pattern of myosin foci, which is a …

Polarization is a fundamental cellular property, which is essential for the function of
numerous cell types. Over the past three to four decades, research using the best …

Many eukaryotic cells grow by extending their cell periphery in pulses. The molecular
mechanisms underlying this process are not yet fully understood. Here we present a …

Accurate decoding of spatial chemical landscapes is critical for many cell functions.
Eukaryotic cells decode local chemical gradients to orient growth or movement in productive …

The small Rho-family GTPase Cdc42 is critical for cell polarization and polarizes
spontaneously in absence of upstream spatial cues. Spontaneous polarization is thought to …

Local activity of the small GTPase Cdc42 is critical for cell polarization. Whereas scaffold-
mediated positive feedback was proposed to break symmetry of budding yeast cells and …