Interactions between p21ras proteins and their GTPase activating proteins.

Two proteins that regulate p21ras GTPase activity have been identified. These proteins interact with a region of ras p21 that is necessary for p21ras function and may themselves be components of signalling complexes. The first of these proteins to be identified, GAP, contains domains that interact with receptor tyrosine kinases and other tyrosine phosphoproteins, providing a direct link between signalling pathways involving these proteins and p21ras. The second, the product of the NF1 gene, is less well characterized but seems to connect p21ras to other signalling pathways which are perturbed in the NF1 disease. The ability of p21ras to interact with GAP may be compromised by competitive binding to the product of the Ki-rev1 gene, p21rap1. This competition for binding to GAP, or other proteins that interact with the effector site of ras p21, may explain the ability of Ki-rev1 to suppress cellular transformation by ras oncogenes.