Description
Product Characteristics:
Receptor tyrosine kinase which binds promiscuously membrane-bound ephrin family ligands residing on adjacent cells, leading to contact-dependent bidirectional signaling into neighboring cells. The signaling pathway downstream of the receptor is referred to as forward signaling while the signaling pathway downstream of the ephrin ligand is referred to as reverse signaling. Highly promiscuous for ephrin-A ligands it binds preferentially EFNA5. Upon activation by EFNA5 regulates cell-cell adhesion, cytoskeletal organization and cell migration. Plays a role in cardiac cells migration and differentiation and regulates the formation of the atrioventricular canal and septum during development probably through activation by EFNA1. Involved in the retinotectal mapping of neurons. May also control the segregation but not the guidance of motor and sensory axons during neuromuscular circuit development.
Subcellular location: Secreted, Cell membrane
Synonyms: EK4, ETK, HEK, ETK1, HEK4, TYRO4, Ephrin type-A receptor 3, EPH-like kinase 4, Human embryo kinase, Tyrosine-protein kinase TYRO4, Tyrosine-protein kinase receptor ETK1, Eph-like tyrosine kinase 1, EPHA3
Target Information: This gene belongs to the ephrin receptor subfamily of the protein-tyrosine kinase family. EPH and EPH-related receptors have been implicated in mediating developmental events, particularly in the nervous system. Receptors in the EPH subfamily typically have a single kinase domain and an extracellular region containing a Cys-rich domain and 2 fibronectin type III repeats. The ephrin receptors are divided into 2 groups based on the similarity of their extracellular domain sequences and their affinities for binding ephrin-A and ephrin-B ligands. This gene encodes a protein that binds ephrin-A ligands. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]