Ral GTPases
Ral-GTPases play a role in vesicle trafficking, cell morphology, transcription and possibly even human oncogenesis.
The Ras-like small G-proteins RalA and RalB have achieved some notoriety as components of one of a growing variety of candidate Ras effector pathways.
Ral GTPase activation is required to support both the initiation and maintenance of tumorigenic transformation of human cells. The mechanistic basis for this support remains to be defined.
However, the discovery that the exocyst is a direct effector complex for activated Ral proteins suggests that mobilization of polarized exocytosis might be a basic component of the biological framework supporting tumorigenic progression.
References
Camonis JH, White MA. Ral GTPases: corrupting the exocyst in cancer cells. Trends Cell Biol. 2005 Jun;15(6):327-32. PMID: #15953551#
Feig LA. Ral-GTPases: approaching their 15 minutes of fame. Trends Cell Biol. 2003 Aug;13(8):419-25. PMID: #12888294#