| Description | 688 amino acids (aa) for MARK4S isoform and 752 aa for MARK4L isoform; belongs to the MARK family of protein kinases and contains from aa 59 to 314 a Serine-Threonine kinase catalytic domain with two activating phosphorylation sites. A short sequence (T region) contains a putative membrane-targeting motif. This region is followed by a ubiquitin-associated (UBA) domain. The spacer is the least-conserved region among MARKs proteins. This region is followed by a strikingly conserved C-terminal domain. In MARK4 the C-terminal domain differs between MARK4S and MARK4L isoforms. |
| Expression | The MARK4S isoform is predominantly expressed in the brain and at low levels in the heart. The MARK4L isoform is expressed ubiquitously in all tissues, with a highly abundant expression in testis, neural progenitors and glial tumors. MARK4L is downregulated during glial differentiation. |
| Localisation | Protein was detected homogeneously in cytoplasm. |
| Function | MARK4 is considered to play a role as a messenger of the Wnt-signaling pathway. MARK4L represents a mitogenic-associated isoform. |
| Homology | MARK1, MARK2 (Emk1), MARK3 (p78/C-TAK1), par1, kin1 |
| MAPs, MARKs and microtubule dynamics. |
| Drewes G, Ebneth A, Mandelkow EM |
| Trends in biochemical sciences. 1998 ; 23 (8) : 307-311. |
| PMID 9757832 |
| |
| Isolation of a novel human gene, MARKL1, homologous to MARK3 and its involvement in hepatocellular carcinogenesis. |
| Kato T, Satoh S, Okabe H, Kitahara O, Ono K, Kihara C, Tanaka T, Tsunoda T, Yamaoka Y, Nakamura Y, Furukawa Y |
| Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.). 2001 ; 3 (1) : 4-9. |
| PMID 11326310 |
| |
| Prediction of the coding sequences of unidentified human genes. XX. The complete sequences of 100 new cDNA clones from brain which code for large proteins in vitro. |
| Nagase T, Nakayama M, Nakajima D, Kikuno R, Ohara O |
| DNA research : an international journal for rapid publication of reports on genes and genomes. 2001 ; 8 (2) : 85-95. |
| PMID 11347906 |
| |
| The neural progenitor-restricted isoform of the MARK4 gene in 19q13.2 is upregulated in human gliomas and overexpressed in a subset of glioblastoma cell lines. |
| Beghini A, Magnani I, Roversi G, Piepoli T, Di Terlizzi S, Moroni RF, Pollo B, Fuhrman Conti AM, Cowell JK, Finocchiaro G, Larizza L |
| Oncogene. 2003 ; 22 (17) : 2581-2591. |
| PMID 12735302 |
| |
