Differential regulation of Raf-1, A-Raf, and B-Raf by oncogenic ras and tyrosine kinases.

It has previously been shown that maximal activation of Raf-1 is produced by synergistic signals from oncogenic Ras and activated tyrosine kinases. This synergy arises because Ras-GTP translocates Raf-1 to the plasma membrane where it becomes phosphorylated on tyrosine residues 340 and 341 by membrane-bound tyrosine kinases (Marais, R., Light, Y., Paterson, H. F., and Marshall, C. J. (1995) EMBO J. 14, 3136-3145). We have examined whether the other two members of the Raf family, A-Raf and B-Raf, are regulated in a similar way to Raf-1. A-Raf behaves like Raf-1, being weakly activated by oncogenic Ras more strongly activated by oncogenic Src, and these signals synergize to give maximal activation. B-Raf by contrast is strongly activated by oncogenic Ras alone and is not activated by oncogenic Src. These results show that maximal activation of B-Raf merely requires signals that generate Ras-GTP, whereas activation of Raf-1 and A-Raf requires Ras-GTP together with signals that lead to their tyrosine phosphorylation. B-Raf may therefore be the primary target of oncogenic Ras.