Proteomics Analysis Reveals Insight Into The Mechanism Of H-Ras-Mediated Transformation

Ras is a small GTP binding protein mutated in approximately 30% human cancer. Despite its important role in the initiation and progression of human cancer, the underlying mechamism of RAS induced human epithelial transformation remains elusive. In this study, we implemented a proteomics approach to the systematical analysis of the alterations in the proteome of NIH3T3 cells transformed by oncogenic H-RasV12. Forty-four proteins associated with Ras-mediated transformation have been identified, and 28 proteins were not previously reported. RT-PCR analysis showed that approximately 44% of target proteins identified showed concomitant changes in mRNA abundance. A principal finding was the up-regulation of gankyrin, which was the first evidence to show that gankyrin pathway was implicated in Ras-activated transformation.