Ras Related C3 Botulinum Toxin Substrate 2 (Rac2)

Members of the RAS superfamily of small GTP-binding proteins appear to regulate a diverse array of cellular events, including the control of cell growth, cytoskeletal reorganization, and the activation of protein kinases. The 2 genes encode the C-terminal consensus sequence (CXXX-COOH), which localizes RAS to the inner plasma membrane, and the residues gly12 and ala59, at which sites mutations elicit transforming potential to RAS. RAC2 mRNA displayed relative myeloid tissue selectivity and showed an increase upon differentiation of HL-60 and U937 cells to neutrophil-like and monocyte-like morphology, respectively. Rac2 is selectively expressed in mouse type 1 helper T lymphocytes (Th1). Rac2 induces the interferon-gamma promoter through cooperative interaction of the NF-kappa-B and p38 MAP kinase pathways.