NRAS was discovered by researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research, funded by the Cancer Research Campaign (now Cancer Research UK). NRAS gene is a member of the Ras gene family. It is mapped on chromosome 1, and it is activated in HL60, a promyelocytic leukemia line. The mammalian ras gene family consists of the harvey and kirsten ras genes (HRAS and KRAS), an inactive pseudogene of each (c-Hras2 and c-Kras1) and the N-ras gene. They differ significantly only in the C-terminal 40 amino acids. These ras genes have GTP/GDP binding and GTPase activity, and their normal function may be as G-like regulatory proteins involved in the normal control of cell growth. The NRAS gene specifies two main transcripts of 2Kb and 4.3Kb. The difference between the two transcripts is a simple extension through the termination site of the 2Kb transcript. The NRAS gene consists of seven exons (-I, I, II, III, IV, V, VI).
