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Protein Farnesyltransferase

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules

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Synonyms

CAAX farnesyltransferase; Farnesyltransferase; PFT

Historical Background

Protein prenylation is a posttranslational modification of proteins involving the addition of isoprenyl lipids (Tamanoi and Sigman 2001). It is a post-translational modification that occurs in the cytosol and is essential for the proper localization and functions of many proteins. There are three kinds of prenyltransferases: protein farnesyltransferase (FTase), protein geranylgeranyltransferase-I (GGTase-I), and Rab geranylgeranyltransferase (RabGGTase). No additional prenyltransferases have been described to date. Farnesyltransferase (FTase) catalyzes the addition of a 15-carbon farnesyl group to proteins such as Ras proteins, Rheb proteins, nuclear lamins, and Hdj2 that end with the Cys-A1-A2-X (CA 1 A 2 X)motif, where A is an aliphatic amino acid and X is usually serine, methionine, glutamine or alanine. The lipid is covalently attached to the Cys via a thioether linkage between C1 of the farnesyl...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biology Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Lai N. Chan & Prof. Fuyuhiko Tamanoi

  2. Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, University of California, 1602 Molecular Science Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Lai N. Chan & Prof. Fuyuhiko Tamanoi

Authors
  1. Lai N. Chan
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  2. Prof. Fuyuhiko Tamanoi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

    Sangdun Choi

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Chan, L.N., Tamanoi, F. (2012). Protein Farnesyltransferase. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0461-4_361

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