Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase (MELK): A Novel Regulator in Cell Cycle Control, Embryonic Development, and Cancer

作者：Jiang Pengfei; Zhang Deli^*

来源：International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2013, 14(11): 21551-21560.

DOI：10.3390/ijms141121551

• maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase
• protein interaction
• cell cycle
• embryonic development
• tumorigenic process
• therapeutic target

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) functions as a modulator of intracellular signaling and affects various cellular and biological processes, including cell cycle, cell proliferation, apoptosis, spliceosome assembly, gene expression, embryonic development, hematopoiesis, and oncogenesis. In these cellular processes, MELK functions by binding to numerous proteins. In general, the effects of multiple protein interactions with MELK are oncogenic in nature, and the overexpression of MELK in kinds of cancer provides some evidence that it may be involved in tumorigenic process. In this review, our current knowledge of MELK function and recent discoveries in MELK signaling pathway were discussed. The regulation of MELK in cancers and its potential as a therapeutic target were also described.

• 出版日期2013-11
• 单位上海生物信息技术研究中心