title: DAP-kinase as a target for drug design in cancer and diseases associated with accelerated cell death.
abstract: Misregulated cell death, which can result in either the excessive, inappropriate elimination of cells, or in the insufficient removal of damaged or malignant cells, has been associated with numerous diseases. Here we discuss an important molecular regulator of cell death, DAP-kinase (DAPk), which presents a promising target for therapeutic intervention. A structure-functional analysis of this calcium-regulated Ser/Thr kinase which promotes cell death will be presented, and emphasis will be placed on particular disease models in which its modulation might affect clinically-relevant cell death processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. shanib@weizmann.ac.il
authors.forename: Shani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bialik
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kimchi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry; D064550:Death-Associated Protein Kinases; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D064550:Death-Associated Protein Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases