High impact information on RASAL1

• Thus, PITX1 suppresses tumorigenicity by downregulating the RAS pathway through RASAL1 [1].
• Finally, we identified RASAL1, a RAS-GTPase-activating protein, as a transcription target through which PITX1 affects RAS function [1].
• RASAL tracks agonist-stimulated Ca2+ oscillations by repetitively associating with the plasma membrane, yet CAPRI displays a long-lasting Ca2+-triggered translocation that is refractory to cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations [2].
• Thus, RASAL senses the frequency of complex Ca2+ signals, decoding them through a regulation of the activation state of Ras [3].
• Human RASAL has been localized by radiation hybrid mapping to chromosome 12q23-24 [4].

Biological context of RASAL1

• The members of this family are GAP1(m), GAP1(IP4BP), CAPRI (Ca(2+)-promoted Ras inactivator) and RASAL (Ras-GTPase-activating-like protein) and, as we will discuss, they are emerging as important modulators of Ras and small GTPase signalling that are subject to regulation by a diverse array of events and second messenger signals [5].

Anatomical context of RASAL1

• Northern blot and mRNA in situ hybridization analyses indicate that RASAL, in contrast to other mammalian rasGAP proteins, has a limited expression pattern; RASAL is highly expressed in the follicular cells of the thyroid and the adrenal medulla and expressed at lower levels in brain, spinal cord and trachea [4].

References