Synonyms
Historical Background
Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (Erk3) and Erk4 are atypical members of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family of serine/threonine kinases. The Erk3 and Erk4 genes were originally identified in 1991 and 1992, by homology cloning with probes derived from the MAP kinase Erk1 (Boulton et al. 1991; Gonzalez et al. 1992). In human, Erk3 is encoded by the MAPK6 gene located on chromosome 15q21.2. The MAPK4 gene present on chromosome 18q21.1 encodes Erk4. The high sequence identity of Erk3 and Erk4 proteins and the similar organization of their genes indicate that the two proteins are true paralogs. It is noteworthy that MAPK6 and MAPK4 are the only MAP kinase genes that are restricted to the vertebrate lineage.
Structure of Erk3 and Erk4
Erk3 and Erk4 are related protein kinases of 100 and 70 kDa, respectively, that define a distinct subfamily of MAP kinases (Coulombe and Meloche 2007). They are characterized by...
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References
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Klinger, S., Meloche, S. (2012). Erk3 and Erk4. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0461-4_542
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0461-4_542
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