Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.11.1 (protein kinase)
 81,284 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We isolated a novel gene designated mak (male germ cell-associated kinase) by using weak cross-hybridization with a tyrosine kinase gene (v-ros). Sequence analysis of the cDNA corresponding to the 2.6-kilobase transcript revealed that the predicted product of rat mak consisted of 622 amino acids and contained protein kinase consensus motifs in its amino-terminal region. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of mak in the kinase domain with those of other protein kinase genes demonstrated that mak was approximately 40% identical to the cdc2-CDC28 gene family in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and humans but less identical to most other protein kinase gene products. Expression of mak was highly tissue specific, and its transcripts were detected almost exclusively in testicular cells entering and after meiosis but hardly detectable in ovarian cells including oocytes, after the dictyotene stage. These results suggest that the mak gene plays an important role in spermatogenesis.
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PMID:A novel mammalian protein kinase gene (mak) is highly expressed in testicular germ cells at and after meiosis. 218 27

We have recently identified and cloned a novel member of mitogen-activated protein kinase superfamily protein, MOK (Miyata, Y., Akashi, M., and Nishida, E. (1999) Genes Cells 4, 299-309). To address its regulatory mechanisms, we searched for cellular proteins that specifically associate with MOK by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Several cellular proteins including a major 90-kDa molecular chaperone HSP90 were found associated with MOK. Treatment of cells with geldanamycin, an HSP90-specific inhibitor, rapidly decreased the protein level of MOK, and the decrease was attributed to enhanced degradation of MOK through proteasome-dependent pathways. Our data suggest that the association with HSP90 may regulate intracellular protein stability and solubility of MOK. Experiments with a series of deletion mutants of MOK indicated that the region encompassing the protein kinase catalytic subdomains I-IV is required for HSP90 binding. Closely related protein kinases (male germ cell-associated kinase and male germ cell-associated kinase-related kinase) were also found to associate with HSP90, whereas conventional mitogen-activated protein kinases (extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase) were not associated with HSP90. In addition, we found that other molecular chaperones including Cdc37, HSC70, HSP70, and HSP60 but not GRP94, FKBP52, or Hop were detected specifically in the MOK-HSP90 immunocomplexes. These results taken together suggest a role of a specific set of molecular chaperones in the stability of signal-transducing protein kinases.
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PMID:Specific association of a set of molecular chaperones including HSP90 and Cdc37 with MOK, a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase superfamily. 1127 94

Androgen is involved in both normal development and malignant transformation of prostate cells. The signal transduction pathways associated with these processes are not well understood. Using a novel kinase display approach, we have identified a protein kinase, human male germ cell-associated kinase (hMAK), which is transcriptionally induced by the androgenic hormone 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The kinetics of induction is rapid and dose-dependent, and the induction is not blocked by cycloheximide treatment. Real time reverse transcription-PCR studies demonstrated a 9-fold induction of hMAK by 10 nm DHT at 24 h post-stimulation. The expression levels of hMAK in prostate cancer cell lines are in general higher than those of normal prostate epithelial cells. A reverse transcription-PCR product encompassing the entire hMAK open reading frame was isolated. The results from sequencing analysis showed that the hMAK protein is 623 amino acids in length and contains a kinase catalytic domain at its N terminus, followed by a proline/glutamine-rich domain. The catalytic domain of this kinase contains sequence motifs related to both the cyclin-dependent kinase and the mitogen-activated protein kinase families. When expressed in COS1 cells, hMAK is kinase-active as demonstrated by autophosphorylation and phosphorylation of exogenous substrate and is localized in the nucleus. A 3.7-kilobase pair promoter of the hMAK locus was isolated from a human genomic DNA bacterial artificial chromosome clone and was shown to be activated by DHT. This activation can be blocked by an anti-androgen drug bicalutamide (Casodex), implicating the involvement of androgen receptor in this process. Taken together, these data suggest that hMAK is a protein kinase targeted by androgen that may participate in androgen-mediated signaling in prostate cancer cells.
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PMID:Identification of human male germ cell-associated kinase, a kinase transcriptionally activated by androgen in prostate cancer cells. 1208 20

Androgen receptor (AR) is a ligand-induced transcriptional factor, which plays an important role in the normal development of prostate as well as in the progression of prostate cancer. Numerous coactivators, which associate with AR and function to remodel chromatin and recruit RNA polymerase II to enhance the transcriptional potential of AR, have been identified. Among these coactivators, few are protein kinases. In this study, we describe the characterization of a novel protein kinase, male germ cell-associated kinase (MAK), which serves as a coactivator of AR. We present evidence, which indicates that (a) MAK physically associates with AR (MAK and AR are found to be coprecipitated from cell extracts, colocalized in nucleus, and corecruited to prostate-specific antigen promoter in LNCaP as well as in transfected cells); (b) MAK is able to enhance AR transactivation potential in an androgen- and kinase-dependent manner in several prostate cancer cells and synergize with ACTR/steroid receptor coactivator-3 coactivator; (c) small hairpin RNA (shRNA) knocks down MAK expression resulting in the reduction of AR transactivation ability; (d) MAK-shRNA or kinase-dead mutant, when introduced into LNCaP cells, reduces the growth of the cells; and (e) microarray analysis of LNCaP cells carrying kinase-dead MAK mutant showed a significant impediment of AR signaling, indicating that endogenous MAK plays a general role in AR function in prostate cancer cells and likely to be a general coactivator of AR in prostate tissues. The highly restricted expression of this kinase makes it a potentially useful target for intervention of androgen independence.
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PMID:Male germ cell-associated kinase, a male-specific kinase regulated by androgen, is a coactivator of androgen receptor in prostate cancer cells. 1695 Nov 54