Background
PAK3 is a member of PAK proteins, a family of serine/threonine p21-activating kinases, serve as effectors of small Rho GTPases Cdc42 and RAC and have been implicated in a wide range of biological activities. There are six mammalian PAKs which can be divided into two groups: group I PAKs (PAK1-3) and group II PAKs (PAK4-6). Although the two PAK groups are architecturally similar there are differences in their mode of regulation suggesting their cellular functions are likely to be different. Group I p21-activated kinases (PAK1/2/3) is demonstrated as ERK3/ERK4 activation loop kinases. It has been shown that group I PAKs phosphorylate ERK3 and ERK4 on Ser-189 and Ser-186, respectively, both in vitro and in vivo, and that expression of activated Rac1 augments this response. Besides regulation enzymatic activation of ERK3/ERK4, PAKs can also play roles in downstream activation of MAP kinase-activated protein kinase 5 (MK5) in vivo. Thus, the group I PAKs act as upstream activators of ERK3 and ERK4 and unravel a novel PAK-ERK3/ERK4-MK5 signaling pathway. In clinical, PAK has been proposed as a potential therapeutic target in schwannomas.
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