The vaccinia-related kinase (VRK) proteins consist of three Ser-Thr kinases, designated VRK1, VRK2 and VRK3. In the human kinome, VKR proteins function as upstream regulators of several transcription factors. VRK3 (vaccinia related kinase 3) is a 474 amino acid nuclear protein that contains one protein kinase domain and belongs to the serine/threonine protein kinase family. Widely expressed in human tissues, VRK3 is thought to regulate ERK (extracellular signal regulated kinases) activity by directly binding to MPKs (mitogenactivated protein kinase phosphatases), specifically vaccinia H1-related (VHR) phosphatase, thereby dephosphorylating and inactivaing ERK in the nucleus. VRK3 exists as two alternatively spliced variants and is encoded by a gene located on human chromosome 19, which consists of around 63 million bases, over 1,400 genes and makes up over 2% of human genomic DNA.
Quick Search
