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Updated: May 12, 2026

Membrane-SPINE: A Biochemical Tool to Identify Protein-protein Interactions of Membrane Proteins In Vivo
Published on: November 8, 2013
The WASP-WAVE protein network: connecting the membrane to the cytoskeleton
Tadaomi Takenawa1, Shiro Suetsugu
1Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Shirokane-dai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan. takenawa@ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) and WASP-family verprolin-homologous protein (WAVE) family proteins are scaffolds that link upstream signals to the activation of the ARP2/3 complex, leading to a burst of actin polymerization. ARP2/3-complex-mediated actin polymerization is crucial for the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton at the cell cortex for processes such as cell movement, vesicular trafficking and pathogen infection. Large families of membrane-binding proteins were recently found to interact with WASP and WAVE family proteins, therefore providing a new layer of membrane-dependent regulation of actin polymerization.
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