Activation of cell-surface receptors often leads to changes in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). Receptor-generated calcium transients are often seen as repetitive spikes of elevated intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i), whose frequency varies according to the amplitude of the receptor stimuli. This suggests a requirement for molecular decoders, capable of interpreting such complex calcium signals into the correct physiological response. Ras proteins are binary molecular switches controlling a plethora of cellular responses. Whether Ras is in its active GTP-bound, or inactive GDP-bound, form is determined by the activity of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating protein (GAPs). Calcium-regulated GEFs and GAPs have been identified, some with an exquisite sensitivity to [Ca2+]i, implicating a potential role of complex calcium signals in regulating Ras.
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October 2003
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Conference Article|
October 01 2003
The Ras binary switch: an ideal processor for decoding complex Ca2+ signals?
S.A. Walker;
S.A. Walker
*The Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrated Cell Signalling, Inositide Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, U.K.
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P.J. Lockyer;
P.J. Lockyer
†Signalling Programme, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge CB2 4AT, U.K.
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P.J. Cullen
P.J. Cullen
1
*The Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrated Cell Signalling, Inositide Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (e-mail Pete.Cullen@bris.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2003 Biochemical Society
2003
Biochem Soc Trans (2003) 31 (5): 966–969.
Citation
S.A. Walker, P.J. Lockyer, P.J. Cullen; The Ras binary switch: an ideal processor for decoding complex Ca2+ signals?. Biochem Soc Trans 1 October 2003; 31 (5): 966–969. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/bst0310966
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