Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 3, 2025

Characterization at the Molecular Level using Robust Biochemical Approaches of a New Kinase Protein
Published on: June 30, 2019
The Role of LIM Kinases during Development: A Lens to Get a Glimpse of Their Implication in Pathologies
Anne-Sophie Ribba1, Sandrine Fraboulet1, Karin Sadoul1
1Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Team Cytoskeletal Dynamics and Nuclear Functions, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
The organization of cell populations within animal tissues is essential for the morphogenesis of organs during development. Cells recognize three-dimensional positions with respect to the whole organism and regulate their cell shape, motility, migration, polarization, growth, differentiation, gene expression and cell death according to extracellular signals. Remodeling of the actin filaments is essential to achieve these cell morphological changes. Cofilin is an important binding protein for these filaments; it increases their elasticity in terms of flexion and torsion and also severs them. The activity of cofilin is spatiotemporally inhibited via phosphorylation by the LIM domain kinases 1 and 2 (LIMK1 and LIMK2). Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the phospho-regulation of cofilin has evolved as a mechanism controlling the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton during complex multicellular processes, such as those that occur during embryogenesis. In this context, the main objective of this review is to provide an update of the respective role of each of the LIM kinases during embryonic development.
Related Concept Videos
Cytoskeletal Linker Proteins - Plakins
Protein Kinases and Phosphatases
Protein kinases
Many proteins in the cell are regulated by phosphorylation, the addition of a phosphate group. A family of enzymes called kinases...
MAPK Signaling Cascades
Regulation of Angiogenesis and Blood Supply
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Notch Signaling Pathway
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...

