GTPase-activating protein

GTPase-Activating Proteins, or GAPs, or GTPase-Accelerating Proteins are a family of regulatory proteins whose members can bind to activated G protein and stimulate their GTPase activity, with the result of terminating the signaling event.Kimple, A.J. “Structural Determinants of G-protein α Subunit Selectivity by Regulator of G-protein Signaling 2 (RGS2)”. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 284 (2009): 19402-19411. and these proteins are crucial in controlling the activity of G proteins. Regulation of G proteins is important because these proteins are involved in a variety of important cellular processes. The large G proteins, for example, are involved in transduction of signaling from the G protein-coupled receptor for a variety of signaling processes like hormonal signaling,Xu, Haiming et al. “Loss of the Rho GTPase Activating Protein p190-B Enhances Hematopoietic Stem Cell Engraftment Potential”. Blood. 114 (2009): 3557-3566. GAP’s role in this function is to turn the G protein’s activity off. In this sense, GAPs function is opposite that of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), which serve to...
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