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. 1995 Dec;15(12):6506–6512. doi: 10.1128/mcb.15.12.6506

Association of the viral oncoprotein STP-C488 with cellular ras.

J U Jung 1, R C Desrosiers 1
PMCID: PMC230903  PMID: 8524215

Abstract

The STP-C488 oncogene of herpesvirus saimiri has transforming activity independent of the rest of the viral genome. We now demonstrate that STP-C488 associates with cellular ras in transformed cells. Mutations that disrupted this association with ras disrupted the transforming ability of the STP-C488 oncogene. Binding assays showed that STP-C488 was capable of competing with raf-1 for binding to ras. Expression of STP-C488 activated the ras signaling pathway as evidenced by a two- to fourfold increase in the ratio of ras-GTP to ras-GDP and by the constitutive activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase. Consistent with an activation of signaling through ras, STP-C488 expression induced ras-dependent neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. STP-C488 is the first virus-encoded protein shown to achieve oncogenic transformation via association with cellular ras.

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Selected References

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