The activators of p38 (MKK3 and MKK6), JNK (MKK4 and MKK7), and ERK (MEK1 and MEK2) define independent MAP kinase signal transduction pathways. The acronym MEK derives from MAPK/ERK Kinase.

Role in melanoma

MEK is a member of the MAPK signaling cascade that is activated in melanoma. When MEK is inhibited, cell proliferation is blocked and apoptosis (controlled cell death) is induced.

External links

Mitogen-Activated+Protein+Kinase+Kinases at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

v t e MAP kinase activation
Initiation	Mitogen
MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K or MKKK)	MAP kinase kinase kinases MAP3K1 MAP3K2 MAP3K3 MAP3K4 MAP3K5 MAP3K6 MAP3K7 MAP3K8 RAFs RAF1 ARAF BRAF KSR1 KSR2) MLKs MAP3K12 MAP3K13 MAP3K9 MAP3K10 MAP3K11 MAP3K7 ZAK CDC7
MAP kinase kinase (MAP2K or MKK)	MAP2K1 MAP2K2 MAP2K3 MAP2K4 MAP2K5 MAP2K6 MAP2K7
MAP kinase	Extracellular signal-regulated kinases MAPK1 MAPK3 C-Jun N-terminal kinases MAPK8 MAPK9 MAPK10 P38 mitogen-activated protein kinases MAPK11 MAPK12 MAPK13 MAPK14 ERK5 kinase MAPK7 Atypical MAPKs MAPK4 MAPK6 MAPK15 NLK
Phosphatase	MAPK phosphatase

Transferases: phosphorus-containing groups (EC 2.7)

2.7.1-2.7.4:
phosphotransferase/kinase
(PO₄)

2.7.1: OH acceptor	Hexo- Gluco- Fructo- Hepatic Galacto- Phosphofructo- 1 Liver Muscle Platelet 2 Riboflavin Shikimate Thymidine ADP-thymidine NAD⁺ Glycerol Pantothenate Mevalonate Pyruvate Deoxycytidine PFP Diacylglycerol Phosphoinositide 3 Class I PI 3 Class II PI 3 Sphingosine Glucose-1,6-bisphosphate synthase
2.7.2: COOH acceptor	Phosphoglycerate Aspartate kinase
2.7.3: N acceptor	Creatine
2.7.4: PO₄ acceptor	Phosphomevalonate Adenylate Nucleoside-diphosphate Uridylate Guanylate Thiamine-diphosphate

2.7.6: diphosphotransferase
(P₂O₇)

Ribose-phosphate diphosphokinase
Thiamine diphosphokinase

2.7.7: nucleotidyltransferase
(PO₄-nucleoside)

Polymerase

DNA polymerase	DNA-directed DNA polymerase I/A γ θ ν T7 Taq II/B α δ ε ζ Pfu III/C IV/X β λ μ TDT V/Y η ι κ RNA-directed DNA polymerase Reverse transcriptase Telomerase
RNA polymerase	Template-directed RNA polymerase I II III IV V ssRNAP POLRMT Primase 1 2 PrimPol RNA-dependent RNA polymerase Polyadenylation PAP PNPase

Phosphorolytic
3' to 5' exoribonuclease

RNase PH
PNPase

Nucleotidyltransferase

UTP—glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase
Galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase

Guanylyltransferase

mRNA capping enzyme

Other

Recombinase (Integrase)
Transposase

2.7.8: miscellaneous

Phosphatidyltransferases	CDP-diacylglycerol—glycerol-3-phosphate 3-phosphatidyltransferase CDP-diacylglycerol—serine O-phosphatidyltransferase CDP-diacylglycerol—inositol 3-phosphatidyltransferase CDP-diacylglycerol—choline O-phosphatidyltransferase
Glycosyl-1-phosphotransferase	N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate transferase

2.7.10-2.7.13: protein kinase
(PO₄; protein acceptor)

2.7.10: protein-tyrosine	see tyrosine kinases
2.7.11: protein-serine/threonine	see serine/threonine-specific protein kinases
2.7.12: protein-dual-specificity	see serine/threonine-specific protein kinases
2.7.13: protein-histidine	Protein-histidine pros-kinase Protein-histidine tele-kinase Histidine kinase

Kinases: Serine/threonine-specific protein kinases (EC 2.7.11-12)

Serine/threonine-specific protein kinases (EC 2.7.11.1-EC 2.7.11.20)

Non-specific serine/threonine protein kinases (EC 2.7.11.1)	LATS1 LATS2 MAST1 MAST2 STK38 STK38L CIT ROCK1 SGK SGK2 SGK3 Protein kinase B AKT1 AKT2 AKT3 Ataxia telangiectasia mutated mTOR EIF-2 kinases PKR HRI EIF2AK3 EIF2AK4 Wee1 WEE1
Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (EC 2.7.11.2)	PDK1 PDK2 PDK3 PDK4
Dephospho-(reductase kinase) kinase (EC 2.7.11.3)	AMP-activated protein kinase α PRKAA1 PRKAA2 β PRKAB1 PRKAB2 γ PRKAG1 PRKAG2 PRKAG3
3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate dehydrogenase (acetyl-transferring) kinase (EC 2.7.11.4)	BCKDK BCKDHA BCKDHB
(isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP+)) kinase (EC 2.7.11.5)	IDH2 IDH3A IDH3B IDH3G
(tyrosine 3-monooxygenase) kinase (EC 2.7.11.6)	STK4
Myosin-heavy-chain kinase (EC 2.7.11.7)	Aurora kinase Aurora A kinase Aurora B kinase Aurora C kinase
Fas-activated serine/threonine kinase (EC 2.7.11.8)	FASTK STK10
Goodpasture-antigen-binding protein kinase (EC 2.7.11.9)	-
IκB kinase (EC 2.7.11.10)	CHUK IKK2 TBK1 IKBKE IKBKG IKBKAP
cAMP-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.11.11)	Protein kinase A PRKACG PRKACB PRKACA PRKY
cGMP-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.11.12)	Protein kinase G PRKG1
Protein kinase C (EC 2.7.11.13)	Protein kinase C Protein kinase Cζ PKC alpha PRKCB1 PRKCD PRKCE PRKCH PRKCG PRKCI PRKCQ Protein kinase N1 PKN2 PKN3
Rhodopsin kinase (EC 2.7.11.14)	Rhodopsin kinase
Beta adrenergic receptor kinase (EC 2.7.11.15)	Beta adrenergic receptor kinase Beta adrenergic receptor kinase-2
G-protein coupled receptor kinases (EC 2.7.11.16)	GRK4 GRK5 GRK6
Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent (EC 2.7.11.17)	BRSK2 CAMK1 CAMK1A CAMK1B CAMK1D CAMK1G CAMK2 CAMK2A CAMK2B CAMK2D CAMK2G CAMK4 MLCK CASK CHEK1 CHEK2 DAPK1 DAPK2 DAPK3 STK11 MAPKAPK2 MAPKAPK3 MAPKAPK5 MARK1 MARK2 MARK3 MARK4 MELK MKNK1 MKNK2 NUAK1 NUAK2 OBSCN PASK PHKG1 PHKG2 PIM1 PIM2 PKD1 PRKD2 PRKD3 PSKH1 SNF1LK2 KIAA0999 STK40 SNF1LK SNRK SPEG TSSK2 Kalirin TRIB1 TRIB2 TRIB3 TRIO Titin DCLK1
Myosin light-chain kinase (EC 2.7.11.18)	MYLK MYLK2 MYLK3 MYLK4
Phosphorylase kinase (EC 2.7.11.19)	PHKA1 PHKA2 PHKB PHKG1 PHKG2
Elongation factor 2 kinase (EC 2.7.11.20)	EEF2K STK19
Polo kinase (EC 2.7.11.21)	PLK1 PLK2 PLK3 PLK4

Serine/threonine-specific protein kinases (EC 2.7.11.21-EC 2.7.11.30)

Polo kinase (EC 2.7.11.21)	PLK1 PLK2 PLK3 PLK4
Cyclin-dependent kinase (EC 2.7.11.22)	CDK1 CDK2 CDKL2 CDK3 CDK4 CDK5 CDKL5 CDK6 CDK7 CDK8 CDK9 CDK10 CDK12 CDC2L5 PCTK1 PCTK2 PCTK3 PFTK1 CDC2L1
(RNA-polymerase)-subunit kinase (EC 2.7.11.23)	RPS6KA5 RPS6KA4 P70S6 kinase P70-S6 Kinase 1 RPS6KB2 RPS6KA2 RPS6KA3 RPS6KA1 RPS6KC1
Mitogen-activated protein kinase (EC 2.7.11.24)	Extracellular signal-regulated MAPK1 MAPK3 MAPK4 MAPK6 MAPK7 MAPK12 MAPK15 C-Jun N-terminal MAPK8 MAPK9 MAPK10 P38 mitogen-activated protein MAPK11 MAPK13 MAPK14
MAP3K (EC 2.7.11.25)	MAP kinase kinase kinases MAP3K1 MAP3K2 MAP3K3 MAP3K4 MAP3K5 MAP3K6 MAP3K7 MAP3K8 RAFs ARAF BRAF KSR1 KSR2 MLKs MAP3K12 MAP3K13 MAP3K9 MAP3K10 MAP3K11 MAP3K7 ZAK CDC7 MAP3K14
Tau-protein kinase (EC 2.7.11.26)	TPK1 TTK GSK-3
(acetyl-CoA carboxylase) kinase (EC 2.7.11.27)	-
Tropomyosin kinase (EC 2.7.11.28)	-
Low-density-lipoprotein receptor kinase (EC 2.7.11.29)	-
Receptor protein serine/threonine kinase (EC 2.7.11.30)	Bone morphogenetic protein receptors BMPR1 BMPR1A BMPR1B BMPR2 ACVR1 ACVR1B ACVR1C ACVR2A ACVR2B ACVRL1 Anti-Müllerian hormone receptor

Dual-specificity kinases (EC 2.7.12)

MAP2K	MAP2K1 MAP2K2 MAP2K3 MAP2K4 MAP2K5 MAP2K6 MAP2K7

v t e Enzymes
Activity	Active site Binding site Catalytic triad Oxyanion hole Enzyme promiscuity Diffusion-limited enzyme Coenzyme Cofactor Enzyme catalysis
Regulation	Allosteric regulation Cooperativity Enzyme inhibitor Enzyme activator
Classification	EC number Enzyme superfamily Enzyme family List of enzymes
Kinetics	Enzyme kinetics Eadie–Hofstee diagram Hanes–Woolf plot Lineweaver–Burk plot Michaelis–Menten kinetics
Types	EC1 Oxidoreductases (list) EC2 Transferases (list) EC3 Hydrolases (list) EC4 Lyases (list) EC5 Isomerases (list) EC6 Ligases (list) EC7 Translocases (list)

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase

Role in melanoma

See also

External links