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Tools of the trade: use of dominant-inhibitory mutants of Ras-family GTPases

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Abstract

One of the most powerful ways of studying the function of a protein is to specifically block its activity within cells. Over the past decade, dominant-inhibitory proteins have emerged as popular tools with which to accomplish this task; these mutated proteins interfere with the function of their normal cellular counterparts or with proteins that interact with them. This approach has been used extensively in the elucidation of signal-transduction cascades, such as those involving Ras-family proteins. Here I discuss the power and potential pitfalls of using dominant-inhibitory Ras proteins.

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Figure 1: How dominant-inhibitory Ras17N suppresses Ras activation in cells.

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Acknowledgements

I thank A. Wittinghofer, R. Cool, D. Bar-Sagi, A. Polzin, S. Klinz, G. Rusanescu, R.l Buchsbaum, D. Cullis and T. Gotoh for helpful suggestions on the content and preparation of this commentary.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, 2110, Massachussetts , USA

    Larry A. Feig

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  1. Larry A. Feig
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Feig, L. Tools of the trade: use of dominant-inhibitory mutants of Ras-family GTPases. Nat Cell Biol 1, E25–E27 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/10018

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