Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 19, 2025

Spatio-Temporal Manipulation of Small GTPase Activity at Subcellular Level and on Timescale of Seconds in Living Cells
10:27

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

A "Janus" face of the RASSF4 signal in cell fate

Aimei Liu1,2, Kaixiang Zhou1,2, María Aránzazu Martínez3

  • 1Department of National Reference, Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU) and MOA Laboratory for Detection of Veterinary Drug Residues, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Journal of Cellular Physiology
|September 23, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Ras-association domain family 4 (RASSF4) protein acts as a tumor suppressor, influencing both cell death and survival pathways. Understanding RASSF4

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Research
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Ras-association domain family 4 (RASSF4) is a tumor suppressor gene.
  • RASSF4's role in cell fate (death vs. survival) is complex and paradoxical.
  • DNA methylation is a key regulatory mechanism for RASSF4 expression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the regulatory mechanisms of RASSF4 in cell death and survival.
  • To analyze signaling pathways involving RASSF4.
  • To summarize mechanisms of abnormal RASSF4 expression and its clinical implications.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of RASSF4 research.
  • Analysis of signaling pathways.
  • Summary of RASSF4 expression regulation.

Main Results:

  • RASSF4 regulates both cell death and survival.
  • RASSF4 influences intracellular store-operated Ca2+ entry, impacting cell survival.
  • Abnormal RASSF4 expression mechanisms are identified.

Conclusions:

  • RASSF4 exhibits dual roles in cell fate.
  • Understanding RASSF4's function is crucial for cancer and disease therapy.
  • Further research into RASSF4 may offer novel therapeutic strategies.
Keywords:
DNA methylationRASSF4cell deathcell survivalsignaling pathways

More Related Videos

Isolation of Whole Cell Protein Lysates from Mouse Facial Processes and Cultured Palatal Mesenchyme Cells for Phosphoprotein Analysis07:26

Isolation of Whole Cell Protein Lysates from Mouse Facial Processes and Cultured Palatal Mesenchyme Cells for Phosphoprotein Analysis

Published on: April 1, 2022

2.1K
The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions07:34

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

Published on: February 16, 2017

8.1K

Related Concept Videos

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
MAPK Signaling Cascades01:07

MAPK Signaling Cascades

Mitogen-activated protein kinase, or MAPK pathway, activates three sequential kinases to regulate cellular responses such as proliferation, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis. The canonical MAPK pathway starts with a mitogen or growth factor binding to an RTK. The activated RTKs stimulate Ras, which recruits Raf or MAP3 Kinase (MAPKKK), the first kinase of the MAPK signaling cascade. Raf further phosphorylates and activates MEK or MAP2 Kinases (MAPKK), which in turn phosphorylates MAP...
6.5K
Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins01:21

Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins

Cell polarity is the asymmetric distribution of cellular and membrane components, making one side of the cell different from the other. This polarity is essential to many processes such as embryogenesis, axon migration, glucose transport across epithelial cells, and directional cell migration. A migrating cell responds to intracellular or extracellular signals via molecular cascades that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton to establish this polarity. In these cells, the Rho family proteins Cdc42,...
2.9K
The JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway01:20

The JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway

Several cytokine receptors have tightly bound Janus kinase or JAK proteins attached at their cytosolic tail. Small signaling molecules such as cytokines, growth hormones, or prolactins bind to the cytokine receptors and initiate their dimerization. The dimerization brings the cytosolic JAKs together that trans-phosphorylate and activates each other. The activated JAKs now phosphorylate cytosolic tails of the cytokine receptors, which serve as binding sites for adaptor proteins such as  SH2...
9.6K
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:
4.4K
Cell-surface Signaling01:21

Cell-surface Signaling

Hormones—or any molecule that binds to a receptor, known as a ligand—that are lipid-insoluble (water-soluble) are not able to diffuse across the cell membrane. In order to be able to affect a cell without entering it, these hormones bind to receptors on the cell membrane. When a first messenger, a hormone, binds to a receptor, a signal cascade is set off, causing second messengers, proteins inside the cell, to become activated, resulting in downstream effects.
52.7K