The ras oncogene is continuously active

Formation and effect of the Ras oncoprotein. (a) The ras oncogene differs from the wild type by a single base pair, producing a Ras oncoprotein that differs from wild type in one amino acid, at position 12 in the ras open reading frame. (b) The Ras oncoprotein cannot hydrolyze GTP to GDP. Because of this defect, the Ras oncoprotein remains in the active Ras-GTP complex and continuously activates the signal to proliferate.