pubmed-article:10194860 | pubmed:abstractText | A cDNA was isolated from the shrimp Penaeus japonicus by homology cloning. Similar to the mammalian Ras proteins, this shrimp hepatopancreas cDNA encodes a 187-residue polypeptide whose predicted amino acid sequence shares 85% homology with mammalian KB-Ras proteins and demonstrates identity in the guanine nucleotide binding domains. Expression of the cDNA of shrimp in Escherichia coli yielded a 25-kDa polypeptide with positive reactivity toward the monoclonal antibodies against Ras of mammals. As judged by nitrocellulose filtration assay, the specific GTP binding activity of ras-encoded p25 fusion protein was approximately 30,000 units/mg of protein, whereas that of GDP was 5,000 units/mg of protein. In other words, the GTP bound form of ras-encoded p25 fusion protein prevails. Fluorography analysis demonstrated that the prenylation of both shrimp Ras-GDP and shrimp Ras-GTP by protein geranylgeranyltransferase I of shrimp Penaeus japonicus exceeded that of nucleotide-free form of Ras by 10-fold and four-fold, respectively. That is, the protein geranylgeranyl transferase I prefers to react with ras-encoded p25 fusion protein in the GDP bound form. | lld:pubmed |