| Post Translational Modifications | Activated by phosphorylation on Ser-271 and Thr-275 by MAP kinase kinase kinases (MAP3Ks). |
| Function | Dual specificity protein kinase which acts as an essential component of the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway. Essential component of the stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (SAP/JNK) signaling pathway. With MAP2K4/MKK4, is the one of the only known kinase to directly activate the stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinases MAPK8/JNK1, MAPK9/JNK2 and MAPK10/JNK3. MAP2K4/MKK4 and MAP2K7/MKK7 both activate the JNKs by phosphorylation, but they differ in their preference for the phosphorylation site in the Thr-Pro-Tyr motif. MAP2K4/MKK4 shows preference for phosphorylation of the Tyr residue and MAP2K7/MKK7 for the Thr residue. The monophosphorylation of JNKs on the Thr residue is sufficient to increase JNK activity indicating that MAP2K7/MKK7 is important to trigger JNK activity, while the additional phosphorylation of the Tyr residue by MAP2K4/MKK4 ensures optimal JNK activation. Has a specific role in JNK signal transduction pathway activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. The MKK/JNK signaling pathway is also involved in mitochondrial death signaling pathway, including the release cytochrome c, leading to apoptosis. Part of a non-canonical MAPK signaling pathway, composed of the upstream MAP3K12 kinase and downstream MAP kinases MAPK1/ERK2 and MAPK3/ERK1, that enhances the AP-1-mediated transcription of APP in response to APOE. |
| Protein Name | Dual Specificity Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase 7Map Kinase Kinase 7Mapkk 7Jnk-Activating Kinase 2Mapk/Erk Kinase 7Mek 7Stress-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase 4Sapk Kinase 4Sapkk-4Sapkk4C-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Kinase 2Jnk Kinase 2Jnkk 2 |
| Database Links | Reactome: R-HSA-2559580Reactome: R-HSA-2871796Reactome: R-HSA-450321Reactome: R-HSA-5210891 |
| Cellular Localisation | NucleusCytoplasm |
| Alternative Protein Names | Dual Specificity Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase 7 proteinMap Kinase Kinase 7 proteinMapkk 7 proteinJnk-Activating Kinase 2 proteinMapk/Erk Kinase 7 proteinMek 7 proteinStress-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase 4 proteinSapk Kinase 4 proteinSapkk-4 proteinSapkk4 proteinC-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Kinase 2 proteinJnk Kinase 2 proteinJnkk 2 proteinMAP2K7 proteinJNKK2 proteinMEK7 proteinMKK7 proteinPRKMK7 proteinSKK4 protein |
Information sourced from Uniprot.org
