Stimulates the exchange of GDP to GTP on a signaling GTPase, changing its conformation to its active form. Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) act by stimulating the release of guanosine diphosphate (GDP) to allow binding of guanosine triphosphate (GTP), which is more abundant in the cell under normal cellular physiological conditions. [GOC:kd, GOC:mah, PMID:23303910, PMID:27218782]
The process in which a signal is passed on to downstream components within the cell, which become activated themselves to further propagate the signal and finally trigger a change in the function or state of the cell. [GOC:bf, GOC:jl, GOC:signaling, ISBN:3527303782]