Multiple roles of the actin and microtubule-regulating formins in the developing brain

Dynamic control of the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons underlie nearly every critical process during neural development, and requires multiple dimensions of regulation. Formins are a family of fifteen proteins that functions as a major class of linear actin nucleators and regulates both actin and microtubule dynamics. The fact that several closely-related formins show complementary expression patterns during neural development and non-overlapping cytoskeletal functions indicates the need to identify the specialized cellular activities of individual formin members in different neural cell subtypes. In this review, we briefly introduce the known biochemical and regulatory functions of formins in the context of neural development, and summarize their cellular functions in the developing brain.