title: HcSTK, a Caenorhabditis elegans PAR-1 homologue from the parasitic nematode, Haemonchus contortus.
abstract: A putative serine/threonine protein kinase (HcSTK) from the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus was characterised at the mRNA and amino acid levels. HcSTK displays a high level of identity (85-93% in the catalytic domain) with proteins of the PAR-1/MARK serine/threonine protein kinase (STK) subfamily, which represent signal transduction molecules involved in establishing and maintaining polarity in proliferating and differentiating cells. The transcript of hcstk is expressed in different developmental stages (second-, third-, fourth-stage larvae and adults) and various organs (muscle, intestine and reproductive) of H. contortus. In addition, there are several isoforms which appear to relate to a single gene. The expression profile of hcstk is similar to that of Caenorhabditis elegans PAR-1, and the level of sequence identity among members of the PAR-1/MARK STK subfamily, representing a range of species of vertebrates (e.g. humans and rodents), invertebrates (e.g. insects and C. elegans) and yeast, suggests that HcSTK may be involved in a conserved signal transduction pathway.
authors.affiliation: Victorian Institute of Animal Science, Agriculture Victoria, 475 Mickleham Road, Attwood, Victoria 3049, Australia.
authors.forename: Sia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikolaou
authors.forename: Dadna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.forename: Paul J A
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Presidente
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Robin B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gasser
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D006189:Haemonchus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases