Lung Cancer Week 3 draft 5 Part 3

The KRAS gene provides instructions for making a protein called K-Ras. It’s part of a signaling pathway known as the RAS/MAPK pathway. In RAS/MAPK we know that an activated RAS activates MAKKK by binding to it. Then activates MAPKK by phosphorylation and then MAPK. Then MAPK activates proteins or transcription regulators in order to either change protein activity or alter gene expression. The protein relays signals which instruct the cell to grow, divide, and differentiate. The K-Ras protein is a GTPase. When the protein is bound to GDP, it does not relay signals to the cell's nucleus and when its bound GTP it does. The KRAS gene belongs to the oncogene class. From lecture we have learned that when mutated, oncogenes have the potential to cause normal cells to become cancerous.