MAK (gene) explained

Serine/threonine-protein kinase MAK is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the MAK gene.^{[1] [2]}

The product of this gene is a serine/threonine protein kinase related to kinases involved in cell cycle regulation. It is expressed almost exclusively in the testis, primarily in germ cells. Studies of the mouse and rat homologs have localized the kinase to the chromosomes during meiosis in spermatogenesis, specifically to the synaptonemal complex that exists while homologous chromosomes are paired. There is, however, a study of the mouse homolog that has identified high levels of expression in developing sensory epithelia so its function may be more generalized.

Further reading

• Koji T, Jinno A, Matsushime H, etal . In situ localization of male germ cell-associated kinase (mak) mRNA in adult mouse testis: specific expression in germ cells at stages around meiotic cell division . Cell Biochem. Funct. . 10 . 4 . 273–9 . 1993 . 1473268 . 10.1002/cbf.290100411 . 5717763 .
• Matsushime H, Jinno A, Takagi N, Shibuya M . A novel mammalian protein kinase gene (mak) is highly expressed in testicular germ cells at and after meiosis . Mol. Cell. Biol. . 10 . 5 . 2261–8 . 1990 . 2183027 . 10.1128/MCB.10.5.2261. 360573 .
• Taketo M, Jinno A, Yamaguchi S, etal . Mouse Mak gene for male germ cell-associated kinase maps to chromosome 13 . Genomics . 19 . 2 . 397–8 . 1994 . 8188277 . 10.1006/geno.1994.1082 .
• Jinno A, Tanaka K, Matsushime H, etal . Testis-specific mak protein kinase is expressed specifically in the meiotic phase in spermatogenesis and is associated with a 210-kilodalton cellular phosphoprotein . Mol. Cell. Biol. . 13 . 7 . 4146–56 . 1993 . 8321219 . 10.1128/MCB.13.7.4146. 359964 .
• Bladt F, Birchmeier C . Characterization and expression analysis of the murine rck gene: a protein kinase with a potential function in sensory cells . Differentiation . 53 . 2 . 115–22 . 1993 . 8359591 . 10.1111/j.1432-0436.1993.tb00651.x .
• Xia L, Robinson D, Ma AH, etal . Identification of human male germ cell-associated kinase, a kinase transcriptionally activated by androgen in prostate cancer cells . J. Biol. Chem. . 277 . 38 . 35422–33 . 2002 . 12084720 . 10.1074/jbc.M203940200 . free .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Mungall AJ, Palmer SA, Sims SK, etal . The DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 6 . Nature . 425 . 6960 . 805–11 . 2003 . 14574404 . 10.1038/nature02055 . 2003Natur.425..805M . free .
• Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, etal . Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs . Nat. Genet. . 36 . 1 . 40–5 . 2004 . 14702039 . 10.1038/ng1285 . free .
• Fu Z, Larson KA, Chitta RK, etal . Identification of Yin-Yang Regulators and a Phosphorylation Consensus for Male Germ Cell-Associated Kinase (MAK)-Related Kinase . Mol. Cell. Biol. . 26 . 22 . 8639–54 . 2007 . 16954377 . 10.1128/MCB.00816-06 . 1636783 .

Notes and References

1. Ma AH, Xia L, Desai SJ, Boucher DL, Guan Y, Shih HM, Shi XB, deVere White RW, Chen HW, Tepper CG, Kung HJ . Male germ cell-associated kinase, a male-specific kinase regulated by androgen, is a coactivator of androgen receptor in prostate cancer cells . Cancer Res . 66 . 17 . 8439–47 . Sep 2006 . 16951154 . 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-1636 .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: MAK male germ cell-associated kinase.