title: Identification and characterization of murine IRAK-2.
abstract: Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinases (IRAKs) are pivotal signaling elements of the Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIL) family, which play a role in innate immune responses by coordinating host defence mechanisms. Presently four different forms of human IRAK molecules are cloned (hu-IRAK-1, hu-IRAK-2, hu-IRAK-M, and hu-IRAK-4). In the murine system, only three genes have been identified so far, mouse Pelle-Like Kinase (mPLK), which corresponds to human IRAK-1, mu-IRAK-M, and mu-IRAK-4. Here we report the molecular cloning and characterization of murine IRAK-2 (mu-IRAK-2), a mouse homolog to human IRAK-2 (hu-IRAK-2). Murine and human IRAK-2 molecules show 67% sequence identity, they are ubiquitiously expressed, and both practically lack autophoshorylation kinase activity. The murine molecule reveals two remarkable differences to its human counterpart: it shows a C-terminal extension and it has no stimulatory effect on IL-1 induced NF-kappa B activation when compared to hu-IRAK-2, suggesting subtle functional differences in signaling by IRAK-2 in human and mouse cells.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, D-30623 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rosati
authors.forename: Michael U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D053592:Interleukin-1 Receptor-Associated Kinases; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D011494:Protein Kinases; D053592:Interleukin-1 Receptor-Associated Kinases