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Review

Nature Reviews Immunology 2, 635–646 (1 September 2002) | doi:10.1038/nri884

Wasp in immune-system organization and function

Adrian J. Thrasher

The regulation of many immunological events depends on systems that mediate dynamic actin reorganization in response to signals from the cell membrane. The Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) is the founding member of a family of proteins that have emerged as crucial effectors of Rho GTPases and activators of the cytoskeletal-organizing complex Arp2/3. Now, WASp has been shown to be intimately involved in many pathways that influence the function of the immune system. Disturbances in these systems result in the complex immunodysregulation of Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome.