Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules

2018 Edition
| Editors: Sangdun Choi

RAF-1 (C-RAF)

  • Andrea Varga
  • Manuela Baccarini
Reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_591
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Synonyms

 C-Raf;  c-Raf-1;  Murine leukemia viral (v-raf-1) oncogene homolog 1 (3611-MSV);  Murine sarcoma 3611 oncogene 1;  Raf1;  Raf-1;  v-Raf;  v-Raf-1 leukemia viral oncogene 1

Historical Background

Raf-1, also known as C-Raf-1 or C-Raf, was identified about 30 years ago as the oncogene ( v-raf) in the murine sarcoma virus 3611 (3611-MSV) and, in parallel, in the naturally occurring avian retrovirus Mill Hill 2 (MH2). The gene was named after its enhancing effect on fibrosarcoma induction in newborn mice: Rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma, or Raf. The sequences of the oncogenes, v-raf (derived from 3611-MSV) and v-mil (derived from MH2), were found to encode a serine/threonine protein kinase containing the catalytic, but not the N-terminal regulatory domain of the enzyme. This deletion rendered the protein constitutively active and was responsible for its transforming effect, making Raf the first oncogenic serine/threonine kinase discovered. A pseudogene ( c-raf-2) and two...
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the members of the Baccarini group for helpful discussions. Dr. Andrea Varga is supported by a FEBS long term fellowship. Work in the Baccarini lab is supported by funds of the Austrian National Research Fund (FWF), the Austrian Society for the Advancement of Research (FFG), the Obermann Foundation, and the European Community.

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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Center for Molecular BiologyUniversity of Vienna, Max F. Perutz LaboratoriesViennaAustria