MELK

MELK (Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase) belongs to the CAMK serine/threonine protein kinase superfamily. Melk is a protein serine/threonine kinase that is maximally active during mitosis. It is involved in diverse functions such as cell cycle, cytokinesis, mRNA splicing and apoptosis. Expression MELK is expressed in cells of various tissue origins. MELK expression is strongly dependant on cell-cycle: MELK is undetectable in cells which have exited cell cycle. The exact function of MELK is currently unknown, however MELK was shown to be involved in cell cycle progression via the protein phosphatase CDC25B phosphorylation, in cytokinesis, in apoptosis via its interaction with the Bcl-2 family of proapoptotic genes and apoptosis signal-regulating kinase (ASK1) and in inhibition of mRNA splicing during mitosis via its association with NIPP1. MELK function is required for mammary tumorigenesis in vivo.