Description
Product Characteristics:
The KRAS gene encodes the human cellular homolog of a transforming gene isolated from the Kirsten rat sarcoma virus. The RAS proteins are GDP/GTP-binding proteins that act as intracellular signal transducers. The most well-studied members of the RAS (derived from 'RAt Sarcoma' virus) gene family include KRAS, HRAS, and NRAS. These genes encode immunologically related proteins with a molecular mass of 21 kD and are homologs of rodent sarcoma virus genes that have transforming abilities. While these wildtype cellular proteins in humans play a vital role in normal tissue signaling, including proliferation, differentiation, and senescence, mutated genes are potent oncogenes that play a role in many human cancers.
Subcellular location: Cytoplasm, Nucleus
Synonyms: p21ras, Transforming protein p21, GTPase HRas, GTPase KRas, HRas, HRAS1, KRas, KRAS2, RASH, RASK, RASH_HUMAN, RASK_HUMAN.
Target Information: This gene belongs to the Ras oncogene family, whose members are related to the transforming genes of mammalian sarcoma retroviruses. The products encoded by these genes function in signal transduction pathways. These proteins can bind GTP and GDP, and they have intrinsic GTPase activity. This protein undergoes a continuous cycle of de- and re-palmitoylation, which regulates its rapid exchange between the plasma membrane and the Golgi apparatus. Mutations in this gene cause Costello syndrome, a disease characterized by increased growth at the prenatal stage, growth deficiency at the postnatal stage, predisposition to tumor formation, mental retardation, skin and musculoskeletal abnormalities, distinctive facial appearance and cardiovascular abnormalities. Defects in this gene are implicated in a variety of cancers, including bladder cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Multiple transcript variants, which encode different isoforms, have been identified for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]