Dual specificity testis-specific 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 substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''TESK2''
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 ...
.
Function
This gene product is a
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 ...
that contains an
N-terminal
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 ...
protein kinase domain that is structurally similar to the kinase domains of testis-specific protein kinase-1 and the
LIM motif-containing protein kinases (LIMKs). Its overall structure is most related to the former, indicating that it belongs to the TESK subgroup of the LIMK/TESK family of
protein kinases
A protein kinase is a kinase which selectively modifies other proteins by covalently adding phosphate, phosphates to them (Protein phosphorylation, phosphorylation) as opposed to kinases which modify lipids, carbohydrates, or other molecules. Phos ...
. This gene is predominantly expressed in testis and prostate. The developmental expression pattern of the rat gene in testis suggests an important role for this gene in
meiotic
Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately res ...
stages and/or early stages of
spermiogenesis
Spermiogenesis is the final stage of spermatogenesis, during which the spermatids develop into mature spermatozoon, spermatozoa. At the beginning of the stage, the spermatid is a more or less circular cell containing a cell nucleus, nucleus, Golg ...
.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
{{gene-1-stub