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The Mechanism of RAS nucleotide exchange in the Mitogen Activating Pathway
Author(s) -
Shan Dan,
Hall Ben,
Peters Kyle,
Glass Jake,
Gutzwiller Leah,
Buehler Sam,
Shirley Connor,
Lima Nick,
Nassar Nicholas
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.lb206
Subject(s) - gtp' , guanine nucleotide exchange factor , gtpase , chemistry , mutant , nucleotide , dock , microbiology and biotechnology , guanine , biochemistry , enzyme , biology , gene
RAS is a protein that is integral to the mitogen activating pathway (MAP) that controls cell growth and division. Mutations in RAS deregulate the pathway, which can result in cancer. When bound to the substrate GTP, RAS is activated; when bound to the substrate GDP, RAS is deactivated. The substrate bound to RAS catalyzes conformation changes in two switch regions, which coordinate the interaction RAS has with its substrate. To switch between GTP and GDP, RAS requires assistance from other proteins. GEFs activate RAS by exchanging GDP for GTP; GAPs deactivate RAS by assisting in GTP hydrolysis. The Moeller SMART Team in conjunction with MSOE Center for Biomolecular Modeling used 3‐D modeling and printing technology to pinpoint amino acids that play a crucial role in RAS GTP to GDP exchange. Our mentor, Dr. Nicolas Nassar, created RAS mutations and observed the effect they had on RAS. In these mutations, the two switch regions are restructured, which affects the MAP activity. This alters Mg 2+ ion coordination and guanine nucleotide stabilization. These mutations also prevent the coordination of the catalytic water molecule responsible for the hydrolysis of GTP. In mutated RAS, GEFs are not able to exchange GDP for GTP. These mutants transform RAS to stay active longer compared to wt‐RAS. By learning about RAS GTP and GDP exchange, Dr. Nassar hopes to dock a small molecule into the binding site of cancerous RAS thus inhibiting the mitogen activating pathway. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .