Cofilin and Neurodegeneration: New Functions for an Old but Gold Protein

Cofilin is an actin-binding protein that plays a major role in the regulation of actin dynamics, an essential cellular process. This protein has emerged as a crucial molecule for functions of the nervous system including motility and guidance of the neuronal growth cone, dendritic spine organization...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain sciences 2021-07, Vol.11 (7), p.954
Main Authors: Lapeña-Luzón, Tamara, Rodríguez, Laura R., Beltran-Beltran, Vicent, Benetó, Noelia, Pallardó, Federico V., Gonzalez-Cabo, Pilar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actin
Alzheimer's disease
Apoptosis
Axon guidance
Binding sites
Cofilin
cofilin–actin rods
Cytoskeleton
Dendritic branching
Dendritic spines
Enzymes
Gene expression
Kinases
microtubule instability
Mitochondria
mitochondrial fission
Morphology
Nervous system
Neurodegeneration
Neurodegenerative diseases
Parkinson's disease
Pathology
Phosphorylation
Proteins
Review
Signal transduction
Synaptic transmission
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Summary:Cofilin is an actin-binding protein that plays a major role in the regulation of actin dynamics, an essential cellular process. This protein has emerged as a crucial molecule for functions of the nervous system including motility and guidance of the neuronal growth cone, dendritic spine organization, axonal branching, and synaptic signalling. Recently, other important functions in cell biology such as apoptosis or the control of mitochondrial function have been attributed to cofilin. Moreover, novel mechanisms of cofilin function regulation have also been described. The activity of cofilin is controlled by complex regulatory mechanisms, with phosphorylation being the most important, since the addition of a phosphate group to cofilin renders it inactive. Due to its participation in a wide variety of key processes in the cell, cofilin has been related to a great variety of pathologies, among which neurodegenerative diseases have attracted great interest. In this review, we summarized the functions of cofilin and its regulation, emphasizing how defects in these processes have been related to different neurodegenerative diseases.
ISSN:2076-3425
2076-3425
DOI:10.3390/brainsci11070954