Department of Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Centre for Biomedical Genetics and Cancer Genomics Centre, Universiteitsweg 100, 584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Dev Biol. 2010 Apr 1;340(1):1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2009.12.043. Epub 2010 Jan 7.
The small Ras-like GTPase Rap1 is an evolutionary conserved protein that originally gained interest because of its capacity to revert the morphological phenotype of Ras-transformed fibroblasts. Rap1 is regulated by a large number of stimuli that include growth factors and cytokines, but also physical force and osmotic stress. Downstream of Rap1, a plethora of effector molecules has been proposed on the basis of biochemical studies. Here, we present an overview of genetic studies on Rap1 in various model organisms and relate the observed phenotypes to in vitro studies. The picture that emerges is one in which Rap1 is a versatile regulator of morphogenesis, by regulating diverse processes that include establishment of cellular polarity, cell-matrix interactions and cell-cell adhesion. Surprisingly, genetic experiments indicate that in the various model organisms, Rap1 uses distinct effector molecules that impinge upon the actin cytoskeleton and adhesion molecules.
小分子 Ras 样 GTP 酶 Rap1 是一种进化上保守的蛋白质，最初因其能够使 Ras 转化的成纤维细胞的形态表型逆转而引起关注。Rap1 受多种刺激的调节，包括生长因子和细胞因子，还包括物理力和渗透压。在 Rap1 的下游，根据生化研究提出了大量的效应分子。在这里，我们对各种模式生物中 Rap1 的遗传研究进行了综述，并将观察到的表型与体外研究联系起来。出现的情况是，Rap1 通过调节包括建立细胞极性、细胞-基质相互作用和细胞-细胞黏附在内的多种过程，是形态发生的多功能调节剂。令人惊讶的是，遗传实验表明，在各种模式生物中，Rap1 使用不同的效应分子，影响肌动蛋白细胞骨架和黏附分子。
