The ect2 rho Guanine nucleotide exchange factor is essential for early mouse development and normal cell cytokinesis and migration.

Ect2 is a member of the human Dbl family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RhoGEFs) that serve as activators of Rho family small GTPases. Although Ect2 is one of at least 25 RhoGEFs that can activate the RhoA small GTPase, cell culture studies using established cell lines determined that Ect2 is essential for mammalian cell cytokinesis and proliferation. To address the function of Ect2 in normal mammalian development, we performed gene targeting to generate Ect2 knockout mice. The heterozygous Ect2(+/-) mice showed normal development and life span, indicating that Ect2 haplodeficiency was not deleterious for development or growth. In contrast, Ect2(-/-) embryos were not found at birth or postimplantation stages. Ect2(-/-) blastocysts were recovered at embryonic day 3.5 but did not give rise to viable outgrowths in culture, indicating that Ect2 is required for peri-implantation development. To further assess the importance of Ect2 in normal cell physiology, we isolated primary fibroblasts from Ect2(fl/fl) embryos (MEFs) and ablated Ect2 using adenoviral delivery of Cre recombinase. We observed a significant increase in multinucleated cells and accumulation of cells in G2/M phase, consistent with a role for Ect2 in cytokinesis. Ect2 deficiency also caused enlargement of the cytoplasm and impaired cell migration. Finally, although Ect2-dependent activation of RhoA has been implicated in cytokinesis, Ect2 can also activate Rac1 and Cdc42 to cause growth transformation. Surprisingly, ectopic expression of constitutively activated RhoA, Rac1, or Cdc42, known substrates of Ect2, failed to phenocopy Ect2 and did not rescue the defect in cytokinesis caused by loss of Ect2. In summary, our results establish the unique role of Ect2 in development and normal cell proliferation.