Tyrosine-protein kinase ITK/TSK also known as interleukin-2-inducible T-cell kinase or simply ITK, is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''ITK''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
ITK is a member of the
TEC family of
kinases and is highly expressed in
T cell
T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their cell ...
s.
Function
This gene encodes an intracellular
tyrosine kinase expressed in T-cells. The protein is thought to play a role in T-cell
proliferation and
differentiation.
ITK is functionally important for the development and effector function of
Th2 and
Th17 cells.
Mice lacking ITK were shown to not be susceptible to asthma.
Structure
This protein contains the following
domains, which are often found in intracellular kinases:
*
N-terminus
The N-terminus (also known as the amino-terminus, NH2-terminus, N-terminal end or amine-terminus) is the start of a protein or polypeptide, referring to the free amine group (-NH2) located at the end of a polypeptide. Within a peptide, the amin ...
–
PH (pleckstrin homology domain)
* TH – Tec family homology domain (including
Bruton's tyrosine kinase Cys-rich motif and Proline rich region)
*
SH3 – (Src homology 3)
*
SH2 – (Src homology 2)
*
C-terminus
The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, carboxy tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comp ...
– tyrosine kinase, catalytic domain
Interactions
ITK (gene) has been shown to
interact with:
*
FYN,
*
Grb2
Growth factor receptor-bound protein 2, also known as Grb2, is an adaptor protein involved in signal transduction/ cell communication. In humans, the GRB2 protein is encoded by the ''GRB2'' gene.
The protein encoded by this gene binds recepto ...
[ and
* KHDRBS1,]
Inhibitors
* Soquelitinib (CPI-818)
References
Further reading
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Tyrosine kinases