The ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) family is one of four subfamilies of the RAS superfamily of low molecular weight GTP-binding proteins (G proteins). Highly degenerate oligonucleotides encoding two conserved regions were used in a PCR reaction to amplify cDNAs encoding each of the known ARF proteins and eight additional cDNA fragments encoding previously unreported human members of the ARF fami...

The Rab/Ypt/Sec4 family forms the largest branch of the Ras superfamily of GTPases, acting as essential regulators of vesicular transport pathways. We used the large amount of information in the databases to analyse the mammalian Rab family. We defined Rab-conserved sequences that we designate Rab family (RabF) motifs using the conserved PM and G motifs as "landmarks". The Rab-specific regions ...

Proteins often undergo conformational changes when binding to each other. A major fraction of backbone conformational changes involves motion on the protein surface, particularly in loops. Accounting for the motion of protein surface loops represents a challenge for protein-protein docking algorithms. A first step in addressing this challenge is to distinguish protein surface loops that are lik...

Rap2B, a member of the ras superfamily of low-molecular-mass GTP-binding proteins, induced a characteristic rearrangement of the pigment granules in Xenopus oocytes following its microinjection, resulting in numerous unpigmented spots on the animal hemisphere. This phenomenon, termed 'mottling', was also induced by microinjection of in vitro-transcribed Rap2B RNA or of purified recombinant Rap2...

Small GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) exist in eukaryotes from yeast to human and constitute a superfamily consisting of more than 100 members. This superfamily is structurally classified into at least five families: the Ras, Rho, Rab, Sar1/Arf, and Ran families. They regulate a wide variety of cell functions as biological timers (biotimers) that initiate and terminate specific cell functions...

The superfamily of small GTPases serves as a signal transducer to regulate a diverse array of cellular functions. The members of this superfamily are structurally and functionally classified into at least 5 groups (Ras, Rho/Rac, Rab, Arf, and Ran) and they are involved in the control of cell proliferation and differentiation, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, membrane trafficking, and nucle...

Utilizing a functional screen in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae we identified mammalian proteins that activate heterotrimeric G-protein signaling pathways in a receptor-independent fashion. One of the identified activators, termed AGS1 (for activator of G-protein signaling), is a human Ras-related G-protein that defines a distinct subgroup of the Ras superfamily. Expression of AGS1 in yeast...

Intracellular targeting of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxins exoenzyme S (ExoS) and exoenzyme T (ExoT) initially results in disruption of the actin microfilament structure of eukaryotic cells. ExoS and ExoT are bifunctional cytotoxins, with N-terminal GTPase-activating protein (GAP) and C-terminal ADP-ribosyltransferase activities. We show that ExoS can modify multiple GTPases of the Ras superf...

We have isolated cDNA clones from a human placental library that code for a low molecular weight GTP-binding protein originally designated Gp (also called G25K). This identification is based on comparisons with the available peptide sequences for the purified human Gp protein and the use of two highly specific anti-peptide antibodies. The predicted amino acid sequence of the protein is very sim...