title: The GAP1 family of GTPase-activating proteins: spatial and temporal regulators of small GTPase signalling.
abstract: Ras proteins are binary switches that, by cycling between inactive GDP-bound and active GTP-bound conformations, regulate multiple cellular signalling pathways including those that control cell growth, differentiation and survival. Approximately 30% of all human tumours express Ras-containing oncogenic mutations that lock the protein into a constitutively active conformation. The activation status of Ras is regulated by two groups of proteins: GEFs (guanine nucleotide-exchange factors) bind to Ras and enhance the exchange of GDP for GTP, thereby activating it, whereas GAPs (GTPase-activating proteins) inactivate Ras by binding to the GTP-bound form and enhancing the hydrolysis of the bound nucleotide back to GDP. In this review, we focus on a group of key regulators of Ras inactivation, the GAP1 family of Ras-GAPs. The members of this family are GAP1m, GAP1IP4BP, CAPRI (Ca2+-promoted Ras inactivator) and RASAL (Ras-GTPase-activating-like protein) and, as we will discuss, they are emerging as important modulators of Ras and small GTPase signalling that are subject to regulation by a diverse array of events and second messenger signals.
authors.affiliation: The Henry Wellcome Integrated Signalling Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yarwood
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bouyoucef-Cherchalli
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kupzig
mesh_terms: D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D020703:ras GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C102193:RASA2 protein, human; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D020703:ras GTPase-Activating Proteins; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein