期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1992
卷号：89
期号：23
页码：11194-11198
DOI：10.1073/pnas.89.23.11194
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：T lymphocytes are activated by interactions with antigens, lymphokines, and cell adhesion molecules. Tyrosine phosphorylation has been implicated as important in signaling through each of these pathways, but except for p56lck, a member of the Src family that associates with CD4 and CD8, the protein-tyrosine kinases involved have not been defined. We describe here a tyrosine kinase gene that we have designated itk (for IL-2-inducible T-cell kinase). The itk gene specifies a 72-kDa protein-tyrosine kinase that is related to members of the Src family but lacks two features characteristic of Src kinases: an N-terminal myristoylation consensus sequence and a regulatory tyrosine residue near the C terminus. Analysis of mouse tissues and cell lines indicates that itk is specifically expressed in the T-cell lineage, suggesting that the tyrosine kinase encoded by itk functions in a signal transduction pathway unique to T lymphocytes. On addition of IL-2 to responsive T cells, itk RNA increases in parallel with that of IL-2R alpha, implicating itk in T-cell activation.
