Overview:

MAK or male germ cell-associated kinase is a serine/threonine protein kinase related to kinases involved in cell cycle regulation which is expressed almost exclusively in the testis, primarily in germ cells. MAK plays an important role in spermatogenesis (1). MAK is also required for retinal photoreceptor survival (2). MAK is a regulator of ciliary length, as a cause of retinitis pigmentosa.

Gene Aliases:

dJ417M14.2, ALPK3

Genbank Number:

BC039825

References:

1. Matsushime, H. et.al: A novel mammalian protein kinase gene (mak) is highly expressed in testicular germ cells at and after meiosis. Molec. Cell. Biol. 10: 2261-2268, 1990.

2. Omori, Y. et.al: Negative regulation of ciliary length by ciliary male germ cell-associated kinase (Mak) is required for retinal photoreceptor survival. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 107: 22671-22676, 2010.