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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Assaying Protein Kinase Activity with Radiolabeled ATP
Published on: May 26, 2017
WNKs: protein kinases with a unique kinase domain
Chou Long Huang1, Seung Kuy Cha, Hao Ran Wang
1Department of Medicine, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA. chou-long.huang@utsouthwestern.edu
Abstract:
WNKs (with-no-lysine [K]) are a family of serine-threonine protein kinases with an atypical placement of the catalytic lysine relative to all other protein kinases. The roles of WNK kinases in regulating ion transport were first revealed by the findings that mutations of two members cause a genetic hypertension and hyperkalemia syndrome. More recent studies suggest that WNKs are pleiotropic protein kinases with important roles in many cell processes in addition to ion transport. Here, we review roles of WNK kinases in the regulation of ion balance, cell signaling, survival, and proliferation, and embryonic organ development.
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