Standard Kinase Classification Scheme
The standard protein kinase classification scheme (Manning, 2002) classifies protein kinases into groups, families, and subfamilies, on the basis of their functions, their sequence and structural similarity, and their evolutionary history. The system is highly curated and designed to be of maximal practical value, rather than created by absolute rules.
History of Kinase Classification
This kinase classification was first published by Manning and colleagues from Sugen in 2002 in papers covering the human kinome [1] and the yeast, worm, and fly kinomes [2]. This scheme was largely built on and early 1995 scheme by Hanks and Hunter [3], extending it from 5 groups, 44 families and 51 subfamilies to 9 groups, 134 families and 196 subfamilies.
The classification has been continuously revised since then. A few notable changes are
- The Atypical group used to cover all kinases not in the ePK superfamily. This has now been split into PKL (kinases that share a fold with ePKs but are in different superfamilies), HisK (histidine kinase fold kinases), NDK (nucleoside diphosphate kinases), and the remaining Atypical kinases that belong to several structural folds that are not known to generally have kinase activity.
- Extensive additional subfamilies have been added for non-human species.
- Additional subfamilies have been created for kinases that have distinct orthologs across multiple phyla
