One attractive candidate for a Pas effector protein, other than the Ra
f kinases, is Ras-GAP. Indeed, recent literature suggests that besides
the Raf/MAP kinase cascade, additional pathways must be stimulated to
elicit a full biological response to Ras. Ras binds the COOH terminal
domain of Ras-GAP, while the NH2 terminal domain appears to be essent
ial for triggering downstream signals. Since Ras-GAP itself has no obv
ious enzymatic function that might explain a role in processes associa
ted with proliferation, differentiation or apoptosis, candidates for d
ownstream Ras GAP effecters that fulfill this role remain to be identi
fied. The newly found GAP-SH3 domain Binding Protein (G3BP) may be one
of these. This review will briefly overview the candidates Pas effect
ers and discuss the results that position Ras-GAP as a critical effect
or downstream of Ras. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.