Description
Product Characteristics:
Serine/threonine kinase which acts as an essential component of the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway. MAPK1/ERK2 and MAPK3/ERK1 are the 2 MAPKs which play an important role in the MAPK/ERK cascade. They participate also in a signaling cascade initiated by activated KIT and KITLG/SCF. Depending on the cellular context, the MAPK/ERK cascade mediates diverse biological functions such as cell growth, adhesion, survival and differentiation through the regulation of transcription, translation, cytoskeletal rearrangements. The MAPK/ERK cascade plays also a role in initiation and regulation of meiosis, mitosis, and postmitotic functions in differentiated cells by phosphorylating a number of transcription factors. About 160 substrates have already been discovered for ERKs. Many of these substrates are localized in the nucleus, and seem to participate in the regulation of transcription upon stimulation. However, other substrates are found in the cytosol as well as in other cellular organelles, and those are responsible for processes such as translation, mitosis and apoptosis. Moreover, the MAPK/ERK cascade is also involved in the regulation of the 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.
Subcellular location: Cytoplasm, Nucleus, Cell membrane, Extracellular matrix
Synonyms: Mitogen-activated protein kinase 1, MAP kinase 1, MAPK 1, ERT1, Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2, ERK-2, MAP kinase isoform p42, p42-MAPK, Mitogen-activated protein kinase 2, MAP kinase 2, MAPK 2, Mapk1, Erk2, Mapk, Prkm1
Target Information: This gene encodes a member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family. MAP kinases act as an integration point for multiple biochemical signals, and are involved in a wide variety of cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, transcription regulation and development. The encoded protein is a p38 MAP kinase and is activated by proinflammatory cytokines and cellular stress. Substrates of the encoded protein include the transcription factor ATF2 and the microtubule dynamics regulator stathmin. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been observed for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2012]