Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Spatio-Temporal Manipulation of Small GTPase Activity at Subcellular Level and on Timescale of Seconds in Living Cells
Published on: March 9, 2012
The small nuclear GTPase Ran: how much does it run?
M G Rush1, G Drivas, P D'Eustachio
1Department of Biochemistry, New York University Medical Center, NY 10016, USA.
Abstract:
Ran is one of the most abundant and best conserved of the small GTP binding and hydrolyzing proteins of eukaryotes. It is located predominantly in cell nuclei. Ran is a member of the Ras family of GTPases, which includes the Ras and Ras-like proteins that regulate cell growth and division, the Rho and Rac proteins that regulate cytoskeletal organization and the Rab proteins that regulate vesicular sorting. Ran differs most obviously from other members of the Ras family in both its nuclear localization, and its lack of sites required for post-translational lipid modification. Ran is, however, similar to other Ras family members in requiring a specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and a specific GTPase activating protein (GAP) as stimulators of overall GTPase activity. In this review, the multiple cellular functions of Ran are evaluated with respect to its known biochemistry and molecular interactions.
Related Concept Videos
GTPases and their Regulation
Large G-proteins, also known...
Nuclear Export
NES are of three types- the canonical 10-residue long leucine-rich signal and other...
Directionality of Nuclear Transport
GTPases and their Regulation
Large G-proteins, also known...
Small GTPases - Ras and Rho
Three regulatory proteins control their activity:
Activation and Inactivation of G Proteins

