{"doi":"10.1074/jbc.ra119.011837","title":"The two splice variant forms of Cdc42 exert distinct and essential functions in neurogenesis","abstract":"the formation of neuroprogenitors) and not the second phase (differentiation into neurons). Here, using both P19 cells and mouse embryonic stem cells, we resolve this paradox, demonstrating that two splice variants of CDC42, differing only in nine amino acid residues in their very C-terminal regions, play distinct roles in neurogenesis. We found that a CDC42 splice variant that has a ubiquitous tissue distribution, termed here as CDC42u, specifically drives the formation of neuroprogenitor cells, whereas a brain-specific CDC42 variant, CDC42b, is essential for promoting the transition of neuroprogenitor cells to neurons. We further show that the specific roles of CDC42u and CDC42b in neurogenesis are due to their opposing effects on mTORC1 activity. Specifically, CDC42u stimulated mTORC1 activity and thereby induced neuroprogenitor formation, whereas CDC42b worked together with activated CDC42-associated kinase (ACK) in down-regulating mTOR expression and promoting neuronal differentiation. These findings highlight the remarkable functional specificities of two highly similar CDC42 splice variants in regulating distinct stages of neurogenesis.","journal":"Journal of Biological Chemistry","year":2020,"id":75460,"datarank":1.0234363161114026,"base_score":3.258096538021482,"endowment":3.258096538021482,"self_citation_contribution":0.4887144807032224,"citation_network_contribution":0.5347218354081803,"self_endowment_contribution":0.4887144807032224,"citer_contribution":0.5347218354081803,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":25,"citer_count":24,"citers_with_citation_signal":21,"citers_with_endowment":21,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9532,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":396045,"name":"Joseph E. Druso","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":307283,"name":"Richard A. Cerione","orcid":"0000-0003-4512-5897","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":394440,"name":"Makoto Endo","orcid":"0000-0002-2055-5471","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":41,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-18T21:46:55.856612Z","pmid":"32071086","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}