Division of Infection & Immunity, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2020 Dec;39(4):1023-1028. doi: 10.1007/s10555-020-09919-1. Epub 2020 Jul 29.
The name of the oncogene, ras, has its origin in studies of murine leukemia viruses in the 1960s by Jenny Harvey (H-ras) and by Werner Kirsten (K-ras) which, at high doses, produced sarcomas in rats. Transforming retroviruses were isolated, and its oncogene was named ras after rat sarcoma. From 1979, cellular ras sequences with transforming properties were identified by transfection of tumor DNA initially by Robert Weinberg from rodent tumors, and the isolation of homologous oncogenes from human tumors soon followed, including HRAS and KRAS, and a new member of the family named NRAS. I review these discoveries, placing emphasis on the pioneering research of Christopher Marshall and Alan Hall, who subsequently made immense contributions to our understanding of the functions of RAS and related small GTPases to signal transduction pathways, cell structure, and the behavior of normal and malignant cells.
癌基因 ras 的名称源于 20 世纪 60 年代珍妮·哈维（Jenny Harvey）对鼠白血病病毒的研究（H-ras）和 Werner Kirsten（K-ras）对鼠肉瘤病毒的研究，这些病毒在高剂量下会在大鼠中产生肉瘤。转化逆转录病毒被分离出来，其致癌基因因大鼠肉瘤而被命名为 ras。从 1979 年开始，罗伯特·温伯格（Robert Weinberg）通过转染肿瘤 DNA 最初从啮齿动物肿瘤中鉴定出具有转化特性的细胞 ras 序列，随后很快从人类肿瘤中分离出同源致癌基因，包括 HRAS 和 KRAS，以及家族中的一个新成员命名为 NRAS。我回顾了这些发现，并特别强调了克里斯托弗·马歇尔（Christopher Marshall）和艾伦·霍尔（Alan Hall）的开创性研究，他们随后对我们理解 RAS 及其相关的小分子 GTP 酶在信号转导途径、细胞结构以及正常和恶性细胞行为中的作用做出了巨大贡献。
