lmmol · Proteins

Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1

UniProt Q02750 Organism Homo sapiens Gene MAP2K1, MEK1, PRKMK1 EC 2.7.12.2

Also known as: MAP2K1, MEK1, PRKMK1

Function

Dual specificity protein kinase which acts as an essential component of the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway. Binding of extracellular ligands such as growth factors, cytokines and hormones to their cell-surface receptors activates RAS and this initiates RAF1 activation. RAF1 then further activates the dual-specificity protein kinases MAP2K1/MEK1 and MAP2K2/MEK2. Both MAP2K1/MEK1 and MAP2K2/MEK2 function specifically in the MAPK/ERK cascade, and catalyze the concomitant phosphorylation of a threonine and a tyrosine residue in a Thr-Glu-Tyr sequence located in the extracellular signal-regulated kinases MAPK3/ERK1 and MAPK1/ERK2, leading to their activation and further transduction of the signal within the MAPK/ERK cascade. Activates BRAF in a KSR1 or KSR2-dependent manner; by binding to KSR1 or KSR2 releases the inhibitory intramolecular interaction between KSR1 or KSR2 protein kinase and N-terminal domains which promotes KSR1 or KSR2-BRAF dimerization and BRAF activation. Depending on the cellular context, this pathway mediates diverse biological functions such as cell growth, adhesion, survival and differentiation, predominantly through the regulation of transcription, metabolism and cytoskeletal rearrangements. One target of the MAPK/ERK cascade is peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG), a nuclear receptor that promotes differentiation and apoptosis. MAP2K1/MEK1 has been shown to export PPARG from the nucleus. The MAPK/ERK cascade is also involved in the regulation of endosomal dynamics, including lysosome processing and endosome cycling through the perinuclear recycling compartment (PNRC), as well as in the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus during mitosis.

Classification

Family (Pfam)
PF00069 Pkinase
InterPro
Kinase-like_dom_sf, MAP_kinase_kinase, Prot_kinase_dom, Protein_kinase_ATP_BS, Ser/Thr_kinase_AS
Functional cluster
Protein Serine/Threonine Kinases

Experimental structures · PDB · 87

A predicted model is available from AlphaFold.

Gene Ontology · 70

Disease associations

Drugs targeting this protein · 16

Related proteins · sequence + function similarity

Co-cited proteins · studied together in the literature

Literature · 39 cited papers

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