MAP2K6

MAP2K6

A gene on chromosome 17q24.3 that encodes a dual-specificity protein kinase that is an essential component of the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway. With MAP3K3/MKK3, MAP2K6 catalyses the phosphorylation of threonine and tyrosine residues in the MAP kinases MAPK11, MAPK12, MAPK13 and MAPK14, and it plays a key role in cellular responses to cytokines and cellular stress. MAP2K3/MKK3 and MAP2K6/MKK6 are both essential for the activation of MAPK11 and MAPK13 induced by environmental stress; MAP2K6/MKK6 mediates apoptotic cell death in thymocytes, regulates melanocyte dendricity by modulating modulation Rho family GTPases, and is the major MAPK11 activator in response to TNF.