Rac3 is a small GTPase of the Rho family, members of which have been implicated in tumorigenesis, cell growth/death and organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Many Rac-interacting proteins or effectors identified to date have a role in cytoskeletal organization. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we have isolated a novel Rac3-interacting protein from a human placenta cDNA library which has no homology to other previously identified Rac-interacting proteins. Sequence analysis revealed that this protein is C1D, the human homolog of the murine SUN-CoR protein which acts as a corepressor for the thyroid hormone receptor. In yeast cells, C1D binds to constitutively activated but not to GDP-bound Rac3. When coexpressed with Rac3 in COS cells, C1D complexed with constitutively active Rac3 but not with wild-type Rac3, demonstrating that C1D-Rac3 interactions take place in vivo in mammalian cells and that C1D appears to be an effector of Rac3. The C1D gene was mapped to human chromosome 2, which frequently shows deletions in human follicular thyroid carcinomas.

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