Direct attack on RAS: Intramolecular communication and mutation-specific effects

Abstract

The crystal structure of RAS was first solved 25 years ago. In spite of tremendous and sustained efforts, there are still no drugs in the clinic that directly target this major driver of human cancers. Recent success in the discovery of compounds that bind RAS and inhibit signaling has fueled renewed enthusiasm, and in-depth understanding of the structure and function of RAS has opened new avenues for direct targeting. To succeed, we must focus on the molecular details of the RAS structure and understand at a high-resolution level how the oncogenic mutants impair function. Structural networks of intramolecular communication between the RAS active site and membrane-interacting regions on the G-domain are disrupted in oncogenic mutants. Although conserved across the isoforms, these networks are near hot spots of protein-ligand interactions with amino acid composition that varies among RAS proteins. These differences could have an effect on stabilization of conformational states of interest in attenuating signaling through RAS. The development of strategies to target these novel sites will add a fresh direction in the quest to conquer RAS-driven cancers.