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General Comment |
Matsushime H, et al reported a novel mammalian protein kinase gene (mak) is highly expressed
in testicular germ cells at and after meiosis.
They isolated a novel gene designated mak (male germ cell-associated kinase) by
using weak cross-hybridization with a tyrosine kinase gene (v-ros). Sequence
analysis of the cDNA corresponding to the 2.6-kilobase transcript revealed that
the predicted product of rat mak consisted of 622 amino acids and contained
protein kinase consensus motifs in its amino-terminal region. Comparison of the
deduced amino acid sequence of mak in the kinase domain with those of other
protein kinase genes demonstrated that mak was approximately 40% identical to
the cdc2-CDC28 gene family in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, and humans but less identical to most other protein kinase gene
products. Expression of mak was highly tissue specific, and its transcripts were
detected almost exclusively in testicular cells entering and after meiosis but
hardly detectable in ovarian cells including oocytes, after the dictyotene stage.
NCBI Summary:
The product of this gene is a serine/threonine protein kinase related to kinases involved in cell cycle regulation. It is expressed almost exclusively in the testis, primarily in germ cells. Studies of the mouse and rat homologs have localized the kinase to the chromosomes during meiosis in spermatogenesis, specifically to the synaptonemal complex that exists while homologous chromosomes are paired. There is, however, a study of the mouse homolog that has identified high levels of expression in developing sensory epithelia so its function may be more generalized.
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