Ral Guanine Nucleotide Dissociation Stimulator (RALGDS)

Ras-related GTPases participate in signaling for a variety of cellular processes and are regulated in part by guanine nucleotide dissociation stimulators (GDSs, or exchange factors). Albright et al. (1993) used sequences derived from the yeast rasGDS proteins as probes and cloned cDNAs encoding a novel murine GDS protein.

The protein stimulated the dissociation of guanine nucleotides from the ralA and ralB GTPases. The protein, designated RalGDS by them, was at least 20-fold more active on the ralA and ralB GTPases than any other GTPases tested. The 3.6-kb ralGDS mRNA and the 115-kD ralGDS protein were found in all tissues examined.