Rho/Rac Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor 2 (ARHGEF2)

Rho-related small GTPases are involved in regulating signal transduction cascades from extracellular stimuli to the cell nucleus and cytoskeleton. DBL-like guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), such as ARHGEF2, catalyze the exchange of bound GDP for GTP on Rho-related proteins.

The deduced protein contains 894 amino acids and has a calculated molecular mass of 100 kD. ARHGEF2 has an N-terminal zinc finger-like motif, followed by a DBL homology domain, a pleckstrin homology domain, and a C-terminal coiled-coil domain. Northern blot analysis detected a 4.4-kb transcript in all tissues tested, with highest expression in thymus, testis, and leukocytes.