title: Chutes and Ladders: the search for protein kinases that act on AMPK.
abstract: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key regulator of energy homeostasis in mammalian cells, is, in turn, regulated by long-sought upstream protein kinases (AMPKKs). Following the recent identification of the tumor-suppressor kinase LKB1 as an AMPKK, a broader role for AMPK in metabolic economy has been unveiled by a new body of work from three groups that implicates the Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinases as AMPKKs. We suggest that PKE (protein kinase "energy" or "economy") is now an apt name for this kinase, which regulates both cellular and whole-organism energy homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Dartmouth Medical School and the Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. lee.a.witters@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: Lee A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Witters
authors.forename: Bruce E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Means
mesh_terms: D000091162:AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D054737:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Kinase; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D011494:Protein Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054737:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Kinase; D000091162:AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases