MELK

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the MELK gene.^[5][6][7] MELK is a serine/threonine kinase belonging to the family of AMPK/Snf1 protein kinases. MELK was first identified present as maternal mRNA in mouse embryos.^[8] MELK expression is elevated in a number of cancers and is an active research target for pharmacological inhibition.^[9]

MELK
Available structures PDB Ortholog search: PDBe RCSB List of PDB id codes 4BKY, 4BKZ, 4D2P, 4D2T, 4D2V, 4D2W, 4IXP, 4UMP, 4UMQ, 4UMR, 4UMT, 4UMU, 5IHA, 5IHC, 5IH9, 5IH8
Identifiers
Aliases	MELK, HPK38, maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase
External IDs	OMIM: 607025; MGI: 106924; HomoloGene: 32111; GeneCards: MELK; OMA:MELK - orthologs
EC number	2.7.10.2
Gene location (Human) Chr. Chromosome 9 (human)[1] Band 9p13.2 Start 36,572,862 bp[1] End 36,677,683 bp[1]
Gene location (Mouse) Chr. Chromosome 4 (mouse)[2] Band 4 B1|4 23.46 cM Start 44,300,876 bp[2] End 44,364,675 bp[2]
RNA expression pattern Bgee Human Mouse (ortholog) Top expressed in secondary oocyte ventricular zone embryo ganglionic eminence amniotic fluid gonad testicle gingival epithelium tibia trabecular bone Top expressed in primitive streak abdominal wall primary oocyte dermis ureter endocardial cushion maxillary prominence medial ganglionic eminence right lobe of liver somite More reference expression data BioGPS More reference expression data
Gene ontology Molecular function transferase activity nucleotide binding calcium ion binding protein kinase activity non-membrane spanning protein tyrosine kinase activity kinase activity protein serine/threonine kinase activity protein binding ATP binding lipid binding Cellular component cytoplasm membrane plasma membrane cell cortex nucleus Biological process intrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway in response to oxidative stress hemopoiesis intracellular signal transduction phosphorylation protein phosphorylation G2/M transition of mitotic cell cycle neural precursor cell proliferation positive regulation of apoptotic process protein autophosphorylation cell cycle cell population proliferation apoptotic process peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs Species Human Mouse Entrez 9833 17279 Ensembl ENSG00000165304 ENSMUSG00000035683 UniProt Q14680 Q61846 RefSeq (mRNA) NM_001256685 NM_001256687 NM_001256688 NM_001256689 NM_001256690 NM_001256691 NM_001256692 NM_001256693 NM_014791 NM_010790 RefSeq (protein) NP_001243614 NP_001243616 NP_001243617 NP_001243618 NP_001243619 NP_001243620 NP_001243621 NP_001243622 NP_055606 NP_034920 Location (UCSC) Chr 9: 36.57 – 36.68 Mb Chr 4: 44.3 – 44.36 Mb PubMed search [3] [4]
Wikidata
View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse

MELK was previously believed to be essential for cancer cell proliferation. However, recent research using CRISPR has demonstrated that MELK is fully dispensable for cancer cell growth, casting doubt on the rationale for targeting this protein in patients. The results are dependent on the experimental design. Therefore, there is a need for further research. ^{[10][11][12][13]}

Interactions

MELK has been shown to interact with CDC25B.^[14]