title: Characterization of the novel focal adhesion kinase RAFTK in hematopoietic cells.
abstract: Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) mediate signals that respond to many pivotal cellular functions. Tyrosine phosphorylation, controlled by the coordinated actions of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) and PTKs, is a critical control mechanism for various physiological processes, including cell growth, differentiation, metabolism, cell cycle regulation and cytoskeleton function. The focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a widely expressed non-receptor tyrosine kinase that is implicated in integrin-mediated signaling and plays a role in signal transduction pathways mediating cell adhesion, motility and anchorage-independent growth. Recently, we and others have identified a novel protein tyrosine kinase termed RAFTK, (also known as Pyk2 or Cak-beta), which is related to FAK. This review describes the role of RAFTK in various signaling cascades mainly in reference to hematopoietic cell lineages.
authors.affiliation: Division of Experimental Medicine, Harvard Institutes of Medicine-BIDMC, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Avraham
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Avraham
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D051418:Focal Adhesion Kinase 2; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D016023:Integrins / Q000502:physiology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D016023:Integrins; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051418:Focal Adhesion Kinase 2