title: The guanine nucleotide-binding switch in three dimensions.
abstract: Guanine nucleotide-binding proteins regulate a variety of processes, including sensual perception, protein synthesis, various transport processes, and cell growth and differentiation. They act as molecular switches and timers that cycle between inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound and active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound states. Recent structural studies show that the switch apparatus itself is a conserved fundamental module but that its regulators and effectors are quite diverse in their structures and modes of interaction. Here we will try to define some underlying principles.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Vetter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wittinghofer
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D001665:Binding Sites; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D020730:Guanine Nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; D020730:Guanine Nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitors; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins