Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Detection of Small GTPase Prenylation and GTP Binding Using Membrane Fractionation and GTPase-linked Immunosorbent Assay
13:51

Detection of Small GTPase Prenylation and GTP Binding Using Membrane Fractionation and GTPase-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Published on: November 11, 2018

10.1K

Rab GTPases: Central Coordinators of Membrane Trafficking in Cancer

Hongyuan Jin1, Yuanxin Tang1, Liang Yang1

  • 1Department of General Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
|June 18, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Rab GTPases regulate membrane trafficking crucial for tumor progression, including invasion and drug resistance. Targeting these Rab GTPases offers a promising new strategy for cancer therapy.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Oncology
  • Molecular Medicine

Background:

  • Tumor progression involves complex cellular processes like invasion, migration, metabolism, autophagy, exosome secretion, and drug resistance.
  • Membrane vesicle trafficking, mediated by Rab GTPases, is fundamental to these cancer-related cellular functions and homeostasis.
  • Dysregulation of Rab GTPase-controlled membrane transport is implicated in cancer development and progression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the characteristics of Rab GTPases and their role in regulating membrane transport.
  • To discuss how Rab GTPases contribute to tumor progression through specific examples.
  • To explore the clinical implications and therapeutic potential of targeting Rab GTPases in cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review focusing on Rab GTPase function in cellular processes.
  • Analysis of existing research on Rab GTPase involvement in cancer progression.
  • Synthesis of information regarding the clinical relevance and therapeutic targeting of Rab GTPases.

Main Results:

  • Rab GTPases are key regulators of intracellular membrane trafficking, essential for cellular functions.
  • Specific Rab GTPases are shown to actively regulate membrane transport pathways critical for tumor progression.
  • The activation of Rab GTPases influences processes such as invasion, migration, and drug resistance in cancer cells.

Conclusions:

  • Rab GTPases play a significant role in the molecular mechanisms driving tumor progression.
  • Targeting Rab GTPases and their regulation of membrane trafficking presents a novel therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment.
  • Further research into Rab GTPase pathways could yield new clinical strategies for managing cancer.
Keywords:
GDPGEFRab GTPasecancer biologymembrane trafficking

More Related Videos

Spatio-Temporal Manipulation of Small GTPase Activity at Subcellular Level and on Timescale of Seconds in Living Cells10:27

Spatio-Temporal Manipulation of Small GTPase Activity at Subcellular Level and on Timescale of Seconds in Living Cells

Published on: March 9, 2012

11.0K
Comparing the Affinity of GTPase-binding Proteins using Competition Assays10:37

Comparing the Affinity of GTPase-binding Proteins using Competition Assays

Published on: October 8, 2015

9.4K

Related Concept Videos

Small GTPases - Ras and Rho01:24

Small GTPases - Ras and Rho

Ras and Rho are small monomeric GTPases that act downstream of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and regulate various cellular processes. These GTPases switch between active and inactive states by binding to guanine nucleotides.
Three regulatory proteins control their activity:
4.5K
Rab Cascades01:25

Rab Cascades

Rab GTPases act in a regulated cascade during membrane fusion, helping the lipid bilayers mix. The Rab family of proteins are active when bound to GTP, and inactive when bound to GDP. Hence, they act as guanine nucleotide-dependent molecular switches. Rab-GTP recognizes and binds to long or short-range tethering proteins to capture the target vesicle. These tethers coordinate with SNAREs on the vesicle and the target membrane to assemble the trans SNARE complex that locks the mixing bilayers.
3.0K
GTPases and their Regulation02:14

GTPases and their Regulation

Guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G-proteins), also known as GTPases, are a superfamily of proteins that regulate many cellular processes, such as cell signaling, vesicular transport, and the regulation of cell shape and motility. Mutation or dysfunction of these proteins can lead to disease. There are around 40,000 known G-proteins that can broadly be classified into two groups ‒  small G-proteins consisting of a single domain and large multi-domain G-proteins.
Large G-proteins,...
9.2K
GTPases and their Regulation02:14

GTPases and their Regulation

2.5K
Rab Proteins01:14

Rab Proteins

Rab proteins constitute the largest family of monomeric GTPases, of which 70 members are present in humans. Rab proteins and their effectors regulate consecutive stages of vesicle transport such as vesicle transport, docking, and fusion to the correct recipient membrane.
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...
4.5K
The Ras Gene02:38

The Ras Gene

The Ras-gene-encoded proteins are regulators of signaling pathways controlling cell proliferation, differentiation, or cell survival. The Ras-gene family in humans constitutes three primary members—the HRas, NRas, and KRas. These genes code for four functionally distinct yet closely related proteins—the HRas, NRas, KRas4A, and KRas4B. The involvement of mutant Ras genes in human cancer was first discovered in 1982 and is among the most common causes of human tumorigenesis.
Ras is a...
6.6K