REGULATION OF RAS PROTEINS AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS (REVIEW)

Albeit the exciting new developments in the last few years in the fiel d of the growth factors and oncogene research, there are still many da rk points in the pathways that lead to cell growth which makes future research even more interesting. The complexity of the network of prote ins and messengers which are known to be involved, as well as the new discoveries indicating that new members of the cascade are yet to be d iscovered, gives the impression that we have to be more open minded th an previously. Thus, a comprehensive look to the multiple pathways aff ected by some of the key molecules involved in regulating cell growth and differentiation is becoming more an obligation than a preference. Guided by this our review brings together most of the elements which s eems to be relevant for the function of Ras proteins with special atte ntion to the phospholipid metabolism alterations. We hope that it woul d stimulate stronger interaction among specialists working in differen t areas of the signal transduction pathways.