Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access published online on January 4, 2009
Journal of Biochemistry, doi:10.1093/jb/mvp001
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Protein-Tyrosine Kinase, Syk: A Key Player in Phagocytic Cells
1Division of Biochemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Care, Himeji Dokkyo University, Himeji, Japan;
2Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Kobe, Japan
*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Hirohei Yamamura Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, 2-1-29 Arata-cho, Hyogo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 652-0032 Japan E-mail: Hirohei_Yamamura{at}pref.hyogo.lg.jp, Phone: 81-78-511-6640, Fax: 81-78-531-7080
Received October 1, 2008; Accepted November 30, 2008
| Abstract |
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Syk is a non-receptor protein-tyrosine kinase expressed in a wide range of hematopoietic cells. At the initial stage of investigation, main exploring was toward its functions in platelets and in classical immunoreceptor-signaling. However, Syk has now been recognized as a key player in both innate and adaptive immunity. Especially in phagocytosis, Syk plays essential roles in signaling evoked by various types of receptors such as Fc
R, CR3, Dectin-1 and apoptotic cell-recognizing receptor. A variety of upstream ITAM-like molecules have been found and are still in the course of new studies. On the contrary, downstream effectors to explain diverse function of Syk are still under exploration. As its novel function, we propose the role of Syk in the regulation of
-tubulin acetylation. Further investigation on the effectors of Syk would give us more information in relation to therapeutic molecular targets.
Key Words: Syk, ITAM, integrin, phagocytosis, macrophage