Abstract
The several hundred members of the eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily characterized to date share a similar catalytic domain structure, consisting of 12 conserved subdomains. Here we report the existence and wide occurrence in eukaryotes of a protein kinase with a completely different structure. We cloned and sequenced the human, mouse, rat, and Caenorhabditis elegans eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF-2 kinase) and found that with the exception of the ATP-binding site, they do not contain any sequence motifs characteristic of the eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily. Comparison of different eEF-2 kinase sequences reveals a highly conserved region of approximately 200 amino acids which was found to be homologous to the catalytic domain of the recently described myosin heavy chain kinase A (MHCK A) from Dictyostelium. This suggests that eEF-2 kinase and MHCK A are members of a new class of protein kinases with a novel catalytic domain structure.
Publication types
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Comparative Study
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Adenosine Triphosphate / metabolism
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Base Sequence
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Binding Sites
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Caenorhabditis elegans / enzymology
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Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / biosynthesis
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Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / chemistry*
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Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / metabolism*
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Cloning, Molecular
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Conserved Sequence
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DNA Primers
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Dictyostelium / enzymology
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Elongation Factor 2 Kinase
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Humans
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Mice
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Protein Biosynthesis
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Protozoan Proteins
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Rabbits
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Rats
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Recombinant Proteins / biosynthesis
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Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
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Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
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Reticulocytes / enzymology
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Transcription, Genetic
Substances
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DNA Primers
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Protozoan Proteins
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Recombinant Proteins
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Adenosine Triphosphate
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EEF2K protein, human
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Eef2k protein, rat
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Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases
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Eef2k protein, mouse
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Elongation Factor 2 Kinase
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myosin-heavy-chain kinase
Associated data
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GENBANK/U93846
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GENBANK/U93847
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GENBANK/U93848
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GENBANK/U93849
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GENBANK/U93850