Description
Background: Lyn, one of the Src family members, is predominantly expressed in hematopoietic cells (1). Two tyrosine residues have been reported to play a crucial role in the regulation of protein tyrosine kinases of the Src family. Autophosphorylation of Tyr396 (equivalent to Tyr416 of Src), located in the catalytic domain, correlates with enzyme activation. Csk-mediated phosphorylation of the carboxy-terminal Tyr507 (equivalent to Tyr527 of Src) inactivates the kinase. Tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of Lyn occurs upon association with cell surface receptors such as the B cell Ag receptor (BCR) and CD40 (2-4). Studies using knockout mice have shown that the net effect of Lyn deficiency is to render B cells hypersensitive to BCR stimulation (5-7), suggesting that the most critical role for Lyn in vivo is in the down-regulation of B cell responses. Lyn is also involved in controlling the migration and development of specific B cell populations (8)