Death-associated protein kinase 2 is an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''DAPK2''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

. This gene encodes a protein that belongs to the

serine/threonine protein kinase A serine/threonine protein kinase () is a kinase enzyme, in particular a protein kinase, that phosphorylates the OH group of the amino-acid residues serine or threonine, which have similar side chains. At least 350 of the 500+ human prote ...

family. This protein contains a N-terminal protein kinase domain followed by a conserved

calmodulin-binding domain In molecular biology, calmodulin binding domain (CaMBD) is a protein domain found in small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK channels). These channels are independent of voltage and gated solely by intracellular Ca2+. They are h ...

with significant similarity to that of death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1), a positive regulator of

programmed cell death Programmed cell death (PCD; sometimes referred to as cellular suicide) is the death of a cell (biology), cell as a result of events inside of a cell, such as apoptosis or autophagy. PCD is carried out in a biological process, which usually confers ...

. Overexpression of this gene was shown to induce cell apoptosis. It uses multiple polyadenylation sites. The DAPK2 mRNA may undergo alternative splicing to produce a DAPK3-like encoding transcript.

References

Further reading