Ras GTPase family containing H-Ras,N-Ras and K-Ras4A/4B
H-Ras/N-Ras/K-Ras subfamily. H-Ras, N-Ras, and K-Ras4A/4B are the prototypical members of the Ras family. These isoforms generate distinct signal outputs despite interacting with a common set of activators and effectors, and are strongly associated with oncogenic progression in tumor initiation. Mutated versions of Ras that are insensitive to GAP stimulation (and are therefore constitutively active) are found in a significant fraction of human cancers. Many Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) have been identified. They are sequestered in the cytosol until activation by growth factors triggers recruitment to the plasma membrane or Golgi, where the GEF colocalizes with Ras. Active (GTP-bound) Ras interacts with several effector proteins that stimulate a variety of diverse cytoplasmic signaling activities. Some are known to positively mediate the oncogenic properties of Ras, including Raf, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), RalGEFs, and Tiam1. Others are proposed to play negative regulatory roles in oncogenesis, including RASSF and NORE/MST1. Most Ras proteins contain a lipid modification site at the C-terminus, with a typical sequence motif CaaX, where a = an aliphatic amino acid and X = any amino acid. Lipid binding is essential for membrane attachment, a key feature of most Ras proteins. Due to the presence of truncated sequences in this CD, the lipid modification site is not available for annotation.