Structure and enzymology of a death-associated protein kinase

The structure of the catalytic domain of death-associated protein kinase (DAPK), a serine/threonine kinase implicated in programmed cell death and tumor suppression, has been determined recently in several crystal forms, including the highest resolution kinase structure available. The structures provide detailed knowledge about ATP-kinase complexes, reveal novel features that might be important in the regulation of enzyme activity, and allow a proteomics-type approach to DAPK enzymology and its role in signal transduction pathways.