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First published online February 23, 2005
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/jcs.01660
Cell Science at a Glance |
1 Cytoskeleton Inc., 1830 S. Acoma Street, Denver, CO 80223, USA
2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Pharmacology, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7295, USA
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: kristerw{at}cytoskeleton.com)
| Introduction |
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subunits in biochemistry and function, Ras family proteins function as monomeric G proteins. Variations in structure (Biou and Cherfils, 2004
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| Ras superfamily structure |
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20 kDa G domain (Ras residues 5-166) that has a conserved structure and biochemistry shared by all Ras superfamily proteins, as well as G
and other GTPases. | Ras superfamily GTPase biochemistry and regulation |
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| Lipid modification and membrane targeting |
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| Subgrouping of the Ras superfamily |
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| The Ras family |
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The best characterized Ras signaling pathway is activation of Ras by the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase through the RasGEF Sos (Repasky et al., 2004
). Activated Ras binds to and promotes the translocation of the Raf serine/threonine kinase to the plasma membrane, where additional phosphorylation events promote full Raf kinase activation. Raf phosphorylates and activates the MEK1/2 dual specificity protein kinase, which phosphorylates and activates the ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Activated ERK translocates to the nucleus, where it phosphorylates Ets-family transcription factors, which in turn activate Ets-responsive promoters.
Other Ras family proteins, including Rap, R-Ras, Ral and Rheb proteins, also regulate signaling networks. Finally, although biochemically similar to Ras, several Ras family proteins appear to act as tumor suppressors, rather than as oncogenes (e.g. Rerg, Noey2 and D-Ras), in cancer development (Colicelli, 2004
).
| The Rho family |
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Although the Miro proteins were first described as Rho proteins, these atypical GTPases instead appear to form their own subgroup of the Ras superfamily (Wennerberg and Der, 2004
). In addition to their N-terminal GTPase domain, they contain EF-hand domains and one C-terminal GTPase-like domain. They lack the insert domain that is characteristic of Rho GTPases (Fig. S1 in supplementary material). The Miro proteins do not regulate the cytoskeleton; instead they are localized to mitochondria and regulate the integrity of these cellular compartments.
| The Rab family |
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Rab proteins localize to specific intracellular compartments consistent with their function in distinct vesicular transport processes (Zerial and McBride, 2001
). This localization is dependent on prenylation, and specificity is dictated by divergent C-terminal sequences. For example, Rab1 is located in the intermediate compartment of the cis-Golgi network and is involved in ER-to-Golgi transport. By contrast, Rab5 is located in early endosomes and regulates clathrin-coated-vesicle-mediated transport from the plasma membrane to early endosomes. Similar distinct intracellular locations and roles in vesicular transport have been established for other Rab members.
| The Ran family |
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| The Arf family |
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Arf1 regulates the formation of vesicle coats at different steps in the exocytic and endocytic pathways (Nie et al., 2003
; Memon, 2004
). GTP- and donor-membrane-bound Arf associates with and activates coat proteins. The Arfcoat-protein complex then facilitates cargo sorting and vesicle formation and release. GAP-mediated formation of Arf-GDP is required for dissociation of the Arfcoat-protein complex and subsequent vesicle fusion with acceptor membranes. In contrast to Rab proteins, which function at single steps in membrane trafficking, Arf proteins can act at multiple steps. For example, Arf1 controls the formation of coat protein I (COPI)-coated vesicles involved in retrograde transport between the Golgi and ER, of clathrin/adapter protein 1 (AP1)-complex-associated vesicles at the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and on immature secretory vesicles, and of AP3-containing endosomes. Arf6 is functionally distinct from Arf1 and can regulate actin organization as well as endocytosis. Regulation and function of Sar1 is similar to that of Arf1, controlling the assembly of the COPII-coated vesicles at the ER. Arl1 also functions in membrane trafficking. Other family members exhibit different or poorly characterized cellular functions.
The complex modes of regulation of Ras superfamily small GTPases facilitate their key involvement in an amazingly diverse spectrum of biochemical and biological processes. The extent of this superfamily, when combined with G
subunits and up to 50 other human GTPases (Colicelli, 2004
), reveal the versatile role of GTPase switches in the control of cellular processes.
| Footnotes |
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| References |
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Bernards, A. and Settleman, J. (2004). GAP control: regulating the regulators of small GTPases. Trends Cell Biol. 14, 377-385.[CrossRef][Medline]
Biou, V. and Cherfils, J. (2004). Structural principles for the multispecificity of small GTP-binding proteins. Biochemistry 43, 6833-6840.[CrossRef][Medline]
Bishop, A. L. and Hall, A. (2000). Rho GTPases and their effector proteins. Biochem. J. 348, 241-255.
Bourne, H. R., Sanders, D. A. and McCormick, F. (1991). The GTPase superfamily: conserved structure and molecular mechanism. Nature 349, 117-127.[CrossRef][Medline]
Colicelli, J. (2004). Human RAS superfamily proteins and related GTPases. Sci. STKE 2004, RE13.
Cox, A. D. and Der, C. J. (2002). Ras family signaling: therapeutic targeting. Cancer Biol. Ther. 1, 599-606.[Medline]
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Li, H. Y., Cao, K. and Zheng, Y. (2003). Ran in the spindle checkpoint: a new function for a versatile GTPase. Trends Cell Biol. 13, 553-557.[CrossRef][Medline]
Memon, A. R. (2004). The role of ADP-ribosylation factor and SAR1 in vesicular trafficking in plants. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1664, 9-30.[Medline]
Moon, S. Y. and Zheng, Y. (2003). Rho GTPase-activating proteins in cell regulation. Trends Cell Biol. 13, 13-22.[CrossRef][Medline]
Nie, Z., Hirsch, D. S. and Randazzo, P. A. (2003). Arf and its many interactors. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 15, 396-404.[CrossRef][Medline]
Pasqualato, S., Renault, L. and Cherfils, J. (2002). Arf, Arl, Arp and Sar proteins: a family of GTP-binding proteins with a structural device for `front-back' communication. EMBO Rep. 3, 1035-1041.[CrossRef][Medline]
Pereira-Leal, J. B. and Seabra, M. C. (2001). Evolution of the Rab family of small GTP-binding proteins. J. Mol. Biol. 313, 889-901.[CrossRef][Medline]
Repasky, G. A., Chenette, E. J. and Der, C. J. (2004). Renewing the conspiracy theory debate: does Raf function alone to mediate Ras oncogenesis? Trends Cell Biol. 14, 639-647.[CrossRef][Medline]
Ridley, A. J. (2001). Rho family proteins: coordinating cell responses. Trends Cell Biol. 11, 471-477.[CrossRef][Medline]
Schmidt, A. and Hall, A. (2002). Guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Rho GTPases: turning on the switch. Genes Dev. 16, 1587-1609.
Seabra, M. C. and Wasmeier, C. (2004). Controlling the location and activation of Rab GTPases. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 16, 451-457.[CrossRef][Medline]
Vetter, I. R. and Wittinghofer, A. (2001). The guanine nucleotide-binding switch in three dimensions. Science 294, 1299-1304.
Weis, K. (2003). Regulating access to the genome: nucleocytoplasmic transport throughout the cell cycle. Cell 112, 441-451.[CrossRef][Medline]
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Zerial, M. and McBride, H. (2001). Rab proteins as membrane organizers. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2, 107-117.[CrossRef][Medline]
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