title: Ras trafficking, localization and compartmentalized signalling.
abstract: Ras proteins are proto-oncogenes that are frequently mutated in human cancers. Three closely related isoforms, HRAS, KRAS and NRAS, are expressed in all cells and have overlapping but distinctive functions. Recent work has revealed how differences between the Ras isoforms in their trafficking, localization and protein-membrane orientation enable signalling specificity to be determined. We review the various strategies used to characterize compartmentalized Ras localization and signalling. Localization is an important contextual modifier of signalling networks and insights from the Ras system are of widespread relevance for researchers interested in signalling initiated from membranes.
authors.affiliation: Physiological Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Institute of Translational Research, University of Liverpool, Crown St., Liverpool L69 3BX, UK. iprior@liverpool.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Prior
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Hancock
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum; D011992:Endosomes / Q000737:chemistry; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006056:Golgi Apparatus / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021381:Protein Transport; D015398:Signal Transduction; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D018631:ras Proteins