Cytoprotective effect of the small GTPase RhoB expressed upon treatment of fibroblasts with the Ras-glucosylating Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin.

Mono-glucosylation of (H/K/N)Ras by Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin (TcsL) blocks critical survival signaling pathways, resulting in apoptosis. In this study, TcsL and K-Ras knock-down by siRNA are presented to result in expression of the cell death-regulating small GTPase RhoB. TcsL-induced RhoB expression is based on transcriptional activation involving p38(alpha) MAP kinase. Newly synthesized RhoB protein is rapidly degraded in a proteasome- and a caspase-dependent manner, providing first evidence for caspase-dependent degradation of a Rho family protein. Although often characterised as a pro-apoptotic protein, RhoB suppresses caspase-3 activation in TcsL-treated fibroblasts. The finding on the cytoprotective activity of RhoB in TcsL-treated cells re-enforces the concept that RhoB exhibits cytoprotective rather than pro-apoptotic activity in a cellular background of inactive Ras.