MELK

MELK
Available structures
PDB	Ortholog search: PDBe RCSB
List of PDB id codes
	4BKY, 4BKZ, 4D2P, 4D2T, 4D2V, 4D2W, 4IXP, 4UMP, 4UMQ, 4UMR, 4UMT, 4UMU, 5IHA, 5IHC, 5IH9, 5IH8
Identifiers
Aliases	MELK, HPK38, maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase
External IDs	OMIM: 607025; MGI: 106924; HomoloGene: 32111; GeneCards: MELK; OMA:MELK - orthologs
EC number	2.7.10.2
Gene location (Human)
Chr.	Chromosome 9 (human)
End	36,677,683 bp
Gene location (Mouse)
Chr.	Chromosome 4 (mouse)
End	44,364,675 bp
RNA expression pattern
	Top expressed in
	secondary oocyte; ; ventricular zone; ; embryo; ; ganglionic eminence; ; amniotic fluid; ; gonad; ; testicle; ; gingival epithelium; ; tibia; ; trabecular bone;
	Top expressed in
	primitive streak; ; abdominal wall; ; primary oocyte; ; dermis; ; ureter; ; endocardial cushion; ; maxillary prominence; ; medial ganglionic eminence; ; right lobe of liver; ; somite;
	More reference expression data
	More reference expression data
Gene ontology
Molecular function	transferase activity; nucleotide binding; calcium ion binding; protein kinase activity; non-membrane spanning protein tyrosine kinase activity; kinase activity; protein serine/threonine kinase activity; protein binding; ATP binding; lipid binding;
Cellular component	cytoplasm; membrane; plasma membrane; cell cortex; nucleus;
Biological process	intrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway in response to oxidative stress; hemopoiesis; intracellular signal transduction; phosphorylation; protein phosphorylation; G2/M transition of mitotic cell cycle; neural precursor cell proliferation; positive regulation of apoptotic process; protein autophosphorylation; cell cycle; cell population proliferation; apoptotic process; peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation;
	Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs
	9833
	17279
	ENSG00000165304
	ENSMUSG00000035683
	Q14680
	Q61846
NM_001256685; NM_001256687; NM_001256688; NM_001256689; NM_001256690;
	NM_001256691; NM_001256692; NM_001256693; NM_014791
	NM_010790
NP_001243614; NP_001243616; NP_001243617; NP_001243618; NP_001243619;
	NP_001243620; NP_001243621; NP_001243622; NP_055606
	NP_034920
	Wikidata
View/Edit Human	View/Edit Mouse

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the MELK gene. MELK is a serine/threonine kinase belonging to the family of AMPK/Snf1 protein kinases. MELK was first identified present as maternal mRNA in mouse embryos. MELK expression is elevated in a number of cancers and is an active research target for pharmacological inhibition.

MELK was previously believed to be essential for cancer cell proliferation. However, recent research using CRISPR has demonstrated that MELK is fully dispensable for cancer cell growth, casting doubt on the rationale for targeting this protein in patients. The results are dependent on the experimental design. Therefore, there is a need for further research.