In mammals, the Rho family GTPase Rac2 is restricted in expression to hematopoietic cells, where it is coexpressed with Rac1. Rac2-deficient mice were created to define the physiological requirement for two near-identical Rac proteins in hematopoietic cells. rac2-/- neutrophils displayed significant defects in chemotaxis, in shear-dependent L-selectin-mediated capture on the endothelial substrate Glycam-1, and in both F-actin generation and p38 and, unexpectedly, p42/p44 MAP kinase activation induced by chemoattractants. Superoxide production by rac2-/- bone marrow neutrophils was significantly reduced compared to wild type, but it was normal in activated peritoneal exudate neutrophils. These defects were reflected in vivo by baseline neutrophilia, reduced inflammatory peritoneal exudate formation, and increased mortality when challenged with Aspergillus fumigatus. Rac2 is an essential regulator of multiple specialized neutrophil functions.

A common approach to understanding neurodegenerative disease is comparing gene expression in diseased versus healthy tissues. We illustrate that expression profiles derived from whole tissue RNA highly reflect the degenerating tissues' altered cellular composition, not necessarily transcriptional regulation. To accurately understand transcriptional changes that accompany neuropathology, we acutely purify neurons, astrocytes and microglia from single adult mouse brains and analyse their transcriptomes by RNA sequencing. Using peripheral endotoxemia to establish the method, we reveal highly specific transcriptional responses and altered RNA processing in each cell type, with Tnfr1 required for the astrocytic response. Extending the method to an Alzheimer's disease model, we confirm that transcriptomic changes observed in whole tissue are driven primarily by cell type composition, not transcriptional regulation, and identify hundreds of cell type-specific changes undetected in whole tissue RNA. Applying similar methods to additional models and patient tissues will transform our understanding of aberrant gene expression in neurological disease.

Critical to homeostasis of blood cell production by hematopoietic stem͞progenitor (HSC͞P) cells is the regulation of HSC͞P retention within the bone marrow microenvironment and migration between the bone marrow and the blood. Key extracellular regulatory elements for this process have been defined (cell-cell adhesion, growth factors, chemokines), but the mechanism by which HSC͞P cells reconcile multiple external signals has not been elucidated. Rac and related small GTPases are candidates for this role and were studied in HSC͞P deficient in Rac2, a hematopoietic cell-specific family member. Rac2 appears to be critical for HSC͞P adhesion both in vitro and in vivo, whereas a compensatory increase in Cdc42 activation regulates HSC͞P migration. This genetic analysis provides physiological evidence of cross-talk between GTPase proteins and suggests that a balance of these two GTPases controls HSC͞P adhesion and mobilization in vivo.