ABSTRACT
The knowledge that ras proteins require posttranslational modification both for plasma membrane association and for biological activity has long been established. 1 It is only over the last couple of years, however, that the true complexity of these modifications has been elucidated. Following the initial reports detailing the exact nature of ras posttranslational processing, 2 - 4 work in this field has expanded dramatically. In this chapter we will review and discuss the implications of recent data on the posttranslational processing of ras and ras-related proteins which have a CAAX C terminus. The posttranslational processing and membrane targeting of the ras-related rab proteins, which generally lack the CAAX motif, will be reviewed in Chapters 18 and 19.
