Rek, a gene expressed in retina and brain, encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase of the Axl/Tyro3 family.
Rek (retina-expressed kinase) has been identified as a putative novel receptor-type tyrosine kinase of the Axl/Tyro3 family with a potential role in neural cell development. rek clones were isolated from a chick embryonic brain cDNA library with a DNA probe obtained by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction of mRNA from Müller glia-like cells cultured from chick embryonic retina. Sequence analysis indicated that Rek is a protein of 873 amino acids with an extracellular region composed of two immunoglobulin-like domains followed by two fibronectin type III domains with eight predicted N-glycosylation sites. Two consensus src homology 2 domain binding sites are present in the cytoplasmic domain, suggesting that Rek activates several signal transduction pathways. Northern analysis of rek mRNA revealed a 5.5-kilobase transcript in chick brain, retina, and kidney and in primary cultures of retinal Müller glia-like cells. Rek protein was identified by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting as a 140-kDa protein expressed in the chick retina at embryonic days 6-13, which corresponded to the major period of neuronal and glial differentiation. Transfection of rek cDNA into COS cells resulted in transient expression of a putative precursor of 106 kDa that autophosphorylated in immune complex protein kinase assays. Overexpression of rek cDNA in mouse NIH3T3 fibroblasts resulted in activation of the 140-kDa rek kinase and induction of morphologically transformed foci. These properties indicated that Rek has oncogenic potential when overexpressed, but its normal function is likely to be related to cell-cell recognition events governing the differentiation or proliferation of neural cells.
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. srclab@med.unc.edu
J S
JS
Biscardi
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F
Denhez
G F
GF
Buehler
D A
DA
Chesnutt
S C
SC
Baragona
J P
JP
O'Bryan
C J
CJ
Der
J J
JJ
Fiordalisi
D W
DW
Fults
P F
PF
Maness
D016475:3T3 Cells; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002642:Chick Embryo; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D000094963:Axl Receptor Tyrosine Kinase
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005136:Eye Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D015513:Oncogene Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C084944:TYRO3 protein, human; D000094963:Axl Receptor Tyrosine Kinase; C000722290:AXL receptor tyrosine kinase, mouse