Research Progress of the Small GTPase Family

[Objective] The aim was to summarize the research progress of small GTPase family,to provide reference for deeply analyzing the structure,function and its molecular action model of small GTPase.[Methods] The structure,mechanism of action and classification of small GTPase were introduced,moreover,the biological functions of each subfamily were summarized emphatically.[Result] The small GTPase is a large superfamily in eukaryotes,which contains more than 100 members.It is classified into Ras,Rho,Rab,Sar/Arf and Ran five distinct families,each of them participate in various physiological processes of organism such as cytoskeletal reorganization,gene expression,cell wall synthesis,vesicle trafficking,nucleocytoplasmic trafficking,microtubules formation,yeast budding process,spindle assembly and polarity of the cell growth.[Conclusion] The small GTPase has many members,its molecular action mechanism and regulatory complex network remain to be further studied.