Tyrosine-protein kinase-like 7 also known as colon carcinoma kinase 4 (CCK4) is a

receptor tyrosine kinase Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are the high-affinity cell surface receptors for many polypeptide growth factors, cytokines, and hormones. Of the 90 unique tyrosine kinase genes identified in the human genome, 58 encode receptor tyrosine kinase ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''PTK7''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

Function

Receptor protein tyrosine kinases transduce extracellular signals across the cell membrane. A subgroup of these kinases lack detectable catalytic tyrosine kinase activity but retain roles in signal transduction. The protein encoded by this gene an intracellular domain with tyrosine kinase homology and may function as a

cell adhesion Cell adhesion is the process by which cells interact and attach to neighbouring cells through specialised molecules of the cell surface. This process can occur either through direct contact between cell surfaces such as cell junctions or indir ...

molecule. This gene is thought to be expressed in colon carcinomas but not in normal colon, and therefore may be a marker for or may be involved in tumor progression. Four transcript variants encoding four different isoforms have been found for this gene. PTK7 serves as a context-dependent signalling switch for the

Wnt pathway The Wnt signaling pathways are a group of signal transduction pathways which begin with proteins that pass signals into a cell through cell surface receptors. The name Wnt is a portmanteau created from the names Wingless and Int-1. Wnt signaling p ...

s (particularly in

planar cell polarity Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) is the protein mediated signaling that coordinates the orientation of cells in a layer of epithelial tissue. In vertebrates, examples of mature PCP oriented tissue are the stereo-cilia bundles in the inner ear, motile cil ...

related functions such as

convergent extension Convergent extension (CE), sometimes called convergence and extension (C&E), is the process by which the tissue of an embryo is restructured to converge (narrow) along one axis and extend (elongate) along a perpendicular axis by cellular movement. ...

and

neural crest cell migration Neural crest cells are a temporary group of cells unique to vertebrates that arise from the embryonic ectoderm germ layer, and in turn give rise to a diverse cell lineage—including melanocytes, craniofacial cartilage and bone, smooth muscle, ...

) and appears to have similar functions for

plexin A plexin is a protein which acts as a receptor for semaphorin family signaling proteins. It is classically known for its expression on the surface of axon growth cones and involvement in signal transduction to steer axon growth away from the so ...

and

Flt-1 Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''FLT1'' gene. Function ''FLT1'' is a member of VEGF receptor gene family. It encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase which is activated by VEGF-A, VEGF-B, ...

pathways. PTK7 was identified to be highly expressed in colon cancer by Saha et al. using serial analysis of gene expression (

LongSAGE Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) is a transcriptomic technique used by molecular biologists to produce a snapshot of the messenger RNA population in a sample of interest in the form of small tags that correspond to fragments of those tra ...

).Saha, S., et al. (2002). "Using the transcriptome to annotate the genome." Nat Biotechnol 20(5): 508-512.

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

is targeting PTK7 for cancer by generating an

antibody-drug conjugate Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are a class of biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for treating cancer. Unlike chemotherapy, ADCs are intended to target and kill tumor cells while sparing healthy cells. As of 2019, some 56 phar ...

against the PTK7 receptor.

Function

References

Further reading