Noonan syndrome is characterized by short stature, facial dysmorphism, and cardiac defects. We and our colleagues discovered novel de novo germline KRAS mutations that introduce V14I, T58I, or D153V amino acid substitutions in individuals with NS and a P34R alteration in an individual with cardio-facio-cutaneous (CFC) syndrome, which has overlapping phenotypic features with NS. Recombinant V14I and T58I K-Ras proteins display defective intrinsic GTP hydrolysis and impaired responsiveness to the GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) p120 GAP and neurofibromin. We also found that V14I and T58I K-Ras render primary hematopoietic progenitors hypersensitive to growth factors and deregulate signal transduction in a cell lineage specific manner (

Nature Genetics 38, 331, 2006
). We recently began interrogating the P34R and D153V K-Ras mutant proteins and a novel CFC-associated F156L K-Ras mutant protein. Both P34R and D153V K-Ras display normal levels of intrinsic GTP hydrolysis. In contrast, F156L K-Ras displays defective intrinsic GTP hydrolysis that resembles oncogenic G12D K-Ras. P34R K-Ras is completely resistant to both GAPs, which is intriguing as these data suggest that the ability of GAPs to down-regulate Ras-GTP levels is dispensible for development. In contrast, D153V K-Ras is responsive to both GAPs. We expressed mutant Ras proteins in COS-7 monkey kidney cells to investigate activation of Ras and downstream effectors. Cells expressing P34R, D153V, F156L, and G12D K-Ras demonstrate elevated levels of Ras-GTP and phospho-MEK in basal and serum-starved conditions. We conclude that germline KRAS mutations that cause human disease encode proteins with distinct mechanisms of biochemical activation. Further investigation of this allele series will provide insights about the relative importance of the intrinsic Ras GTPase, GAPs, and other biochemical mechanisms in controlling the growth of different cell lineages.

Topics:
k-ras oncogene, mutation, noonan syndrome, mutant proteins, congenital abnormality, growth factor, gtpase-activating proteins, guanosine triphosphate phosphohydrolases, neurofibromatosis type 1 protein, p120 gtpase activating protein

Disclosures: Author Gideon Bollag is an employee of Plexxikon Inc.

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2006, The American Society of Hematology
2006
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