Recent progresses of Rab GTPases

Rab GTPases,one of the Ras superfamily members of monomeric GTPases,deal with intracellular protein trafficking between organelles.Rab GTPases are defined as small GTP-binding proteins,and there are more than 60 proteins which were defined by their similar structure,function,and guanine nucleotide binding properties.The Rabs play essential roles in various aspects of vesicular membrane transport on both the exocytic and endocytic pathways,and Rabs could mediate vesicular transportation by allowing transport carriers or vesicles to engage specific effectors in its active GTP-bound form.In this article,we review recent advance in the research of Rab GTPase.