title: GTPases: a family of molecular switches and clocks.
abstract: Members of the GTPase superfamily share a core domain with a conserved three-dimensional structure and a common GTPase cycle, but perform a wide variety of regulatory tasks in eukaryotic cells. Evolution has created functional diversity from the conserved GTPase structure in two principal ways: (i) by combining in the product of a single gene the core GTPase domain attached to one or more additional folded domains; (ii) by building around a core GTPase an assembly of proteins encoded by different genes. Analysis of the patterns of conserved amino acid side chains on surfaces of G alpha proteins reveals interfaces with other proteins in the G-protein signal linking device.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Bourne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012343:RNA, Transfer; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D012343:RNA, Transfer; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins