G proteins can weakly hydrolyse GTP, breaking a phosphate bond to make GDP. In the GDP-bound state, the G proteins are subsequently inactivated and can no longer bind their targets. This hydrolysis reaction, however, occurs very slowly, meaning G proteins have a built-in timer for their activity. G proteins have a window of activity followed by slow hydrolysis, which turns them off. GAP accelerates this G protein timer by increasing the hydrolytic GTPase activity of the G proteins, hence the name GTPase-activating protein.