The human Rgr oncogene is overexpressed in T cell malignancies and induces transformation by acting as a GEF for

The Ras superfamily of GTPases is involved in the modification of many cellular processes including cellular motility, proliferation and differentiation. Our laboratory has previously identified the RalGDS related (Rgr) oncogene in a DMBA-induced rabbit squamous cell carcinoma and its human orthologue, hRgr. In the present study, we analyzed the expression levels of the human hRgr transcript in a panel of human hematopoietic malignancies and found that a truncated form (diseased-truncated; Dtr-hrgr) was significantly overexpressed in many T-cell derived neoplasms. Although the Rgr proto-oncogene belongs to the RalGDS family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), we show that upon the introduction of hRgr into fibroblast cell lines it is able to elicit the activation of both Ral and Ras GTPases. Moreover, in vitro guanine nucleotide exchange assays confirm that hRgr promotes Ral and Ras activation through GDP dissociation, which is a critical characteristic of GEF proteins. hRgr has guanine nucleotide exchange activity for both small GTPases and this activity was reduced when a point mutation within the catalytic domain (CDC25) of the protein, (cd) Dtr-hRgr, was utilized. These observations prompted the analysis of the biological effects of hRgr and (cd) hRgr expression i