As with other groups of protein kinases, approximately 10% of the RTKs (receptor tyrosine kinases) in the human proteome contain intracellular pseudokinases that lack one or more conserved catalytically important residues. These include ErbB3, a member of the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) family, and a series of unconventional Wnt receptors. We showed previously that, despite its reputation as a pseudokinase, the ErbB3 TKD (tyrosine kinase domain) does retain significant, albeit weak, kinase activity. This led us to suggest that a subgroup of RTKs may be able to signal even with very inefficient kinases. Recent work suggests that this is not the case, however. Other pseudokinase RTKs have not revealed significant kinase activity, and mutations that impair ErbB3′s weak kinase activity have not so far been found to exhibit signalling defects. These findings therefore point to models in which the TKDs of pseudokinase RTKs participate in receptor signalling by allosterically regulating associated kinases (such as ErbB3 regulation of ErbB2) and/or function as regulated ‘scaffolds’ for other intermolecular interactions central to signal propagation. Further structural and functional studies, particularly of the pseudokinase RTKs involved in Wnt signalling, are required to shed new light on these intriguing signalling mechanisms.
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Conference Article|
July 18 2013
Receptor tyrosine kinases with intracellular pseudokinase domains
Jeannine M. Mendrola;
Jeannine M. Mendrola
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6059, U.S.A.
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Fumin Shi;
Fumin Shi
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6059, U.S.A.
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Jin H. Park;
Jin H. Park
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6059, U.S.A.
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Mark A. Lemmon
Mark A. Lemmon
1
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6059, U.S.A.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailmlemmon@mail.med.upenn.edu).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 03 2013
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2013 Biochemical Society
2013
Biochem Soc Trans (2013) 41 (4): 1029–1036.
Article history
Received:
June 03 2013
Citation
Jeannine M. Mendrola, Fumin Shi, Jin H. Park, Mark A. Lemmon; Receptor tyrosine kinases with intracellular pseudokinase domains. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2013; 41 (4): 1029–1036. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20130104
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