ARHGAP4 is a novel RhoGAP that mediates inhibition of cell motility and axon outgrowth

This report examines the structure and function of ARHGAP4, a novel RhoGAP whose structural features make it ideally suited to regulate the cytoskeletal dynamics that control cell motility and axon outgrowth. Our studies show that ARHGAP4 inhibits the migration of NIH/3T3 cells and the outgrowth of hippocampal axons. ARHGAP4 contains an N-terminal FCH domain, a central GTPase activating (GAP) domain and a C-terminal SH3 domain. Our structure/function analyses show that the FCH domain appears to be important for spatially localizing ARHGAP4 to the leading edges of migrating NIH/3T3 cells and to axon growth cones. Our analyses also show that the GAP domain and C-terminus are necessary for ARHGAP4-mediated inhibition of cell and axon motility. These observations suggest that ARHGAP4 can act as a potent inhibitor of cell and axon motility when it is localized to the leading edge of motile cells and axons.