The MARCKS gene is located 6q21 (114178527..114184652).

The transcription product is 6,1 kb with 2 exons. The mRNA has 996 bp open reading frame. The promoter region has no TATA box and contained multiple transcription initiation sites in a region spanning 57 base pairs (bp) (Harlan et al., 1991).

MARCKS was cloned as a protein kinase C (PKC) substrate. The protein binds plasma membrane via N-terminus myristoylation and the phosphorylation site domain (PSD), which is also called effector domain (ED), with electrostatic interaction. MARCKS interacts with actin, calmodulin, PIP2 on the PSD.

Phosphorylation of MARCKS is instrumental in its redistribution. MARCKS possesses a basic phosphorylation site domain (PSD). Phosphorylation of this PSD domain prevents the electrostatic interaction of the effector region of the MARCKS to the plasma membrane (George and Blackshear, 1992; Taniguchi and Manenti, 1993; Kim et al., 1994).

The MARCKS protein is highly expressed in the brain, spleen, and lung, and is virtually absent in skeletal muscle and liver in adult animal (Stumpo et al., 1989; Blackshear et al., 1986; Albert et al., 1986).

Dephosphorylated and phosphorylated MARCKS are located at plasma membrane and in cytosol, respectively.

MARCKS closs-links actin filament (Yarmola et al., 2001) and changes cell morphology responsing to cell stimulations in its phosphorylation/dephosphorylation-dependent manner (Tanabe et al., 2012). MARCKS participates in thrombin-induced noradrenaline release from platelets (Elzagallaai et al., 2001) and PMA- or bonbesin-induced neurotensin release from BON cells (Li et al., 2005). MARCKS regulates the proliferation and/or movement of some type of cells (Brooks et al.,1996; Zhao et al., 2000; Weimer et al., 2009). MARCKS plays a vital role in the normal developmental processes of neurulation, hemisphere fusion, forebrain commissure formation, and formation of cortical and retinal laminations (Stumpo et al., 1995). Long-term potentiation (LTP) is significantly impaired in the mossy fiber-CA3 pathway in MARCKS heterozygous mutant mice (Hussain et al., 2006).

Human MARCKS protein (332 amino acids) was approximately 89, 74, and 59% identical to the bovine, mouse, and chicken proteins. N-terminal domain and phosphorylation site domain (PSD) are highly-conserved between species (from human to Xenopus).