Kinase Group Other

This kinase group consists of kinases with an ePK domain that do not fit into any of the other major groups.

Aur

The aurora family are mitotic kinases, involved in centrosome and cilia biology. They are currently very active targets for cancer therapies.

Bud32

A remarkable family with a highly divergent kinase domain. One Bud32 kinase is present in all sequenced archaeal and eukaryotic genomes, suggesting that it predates the eukaryotic/prokaryotic split. The yeast form, Bud32, is involved in budding and telomere regulation, while the human form (PRPK) is a p53 kinase.

CAMKK

CAM kinase kinase; activates CAMK1 upon calmodulin-binding. Also known to be an upstream kinase for the AMPK kinases. Yeast members of this family are quite divergent, and have been split into a distinct subfamily (ELM), compared with the others (Meta)

Haspin

An almost universal eukaryotic kinase, with a divergent kinase domain. Hugely expanded in nematodes, but otherwise just one or two copies per kinome. Mouse form involved in germ cell function (Haspin = haploid germ cell–specific nuclear protein kinase) and may be involved in their leaving cell cycle.

IKK

I-kappa kinase phosphorylates I-kappaB, the inhibitor of NF-kB, and thus allows NF-kB to enter the nucleus and activate transcription. Present in coelomates (insects and higher animals).

PLK

Polo-Like Kinases, named after the Drosophila gene polo. One of three classes of mitotic kinases, found in most animals, as well as ciliates and fungi, but not plants.

SCY1

An odd family of divergent and catalytically inactive kinases, named after a poorly-understood yeast member. Present in almost all eukaryotes.

Slob

Another odd and largely catalytically inactive family, from the Drosophila gene slob (slowpoke binding protein; binds a calcium channel).

TBCK

TBC domain kinase

TLK

Tousled-Like Kinase, named after their plant homologs

ULK

Unc-51 like kinase, also includes the Drosophila gene fused (hedgehog signaling). Yeast APG1 is involved in autophagy.

Wnk

"With no K (Lysine)" name reflects the lack of the catalytic lysine (it is present but in a different part of the domain). Two of the four human homologs involved in renal cell function, but the family is virtually universal throughout eukaryotes.

Other_Unique

This consists of kinases so divergent that they don't even relate to any other kinases in the Other group. Many are catalytically dead and may even have lost structural elements of the kinase domain, and do not have long-distance orthology, though this may change for some: the sequencing of the urchin genome for instance has found orthologs for some human Other_Unique kinases, and will probably promote them to new families within this group.

Other 'Other' families

Several other families exist in this group, which are specific to closely related organisms. These include several yeast families (RAN, HAL...), vertebrate kinases (NKF1-5), several Dictyostelium (Dicty1, Dicty2...) and even more ciliate genes (Ciliate-A1, D2...) which appear to be well-behaved kinases, but do not have obvious homologs in other well-known kinomes.