The protein encoded by this gene is a dual specificity protein kinase that belongs to the MAP kinase kinase family. This kinase specifically activates MAPK8/JNK1 and MAPK9/JNK2, and this kinase itself is phosphorylated and activated by MAP kinase kinase kinases including MAP3K1/MEKK1, MAP3K2/MEKK2,MAP3K3/MEKK5, and MAP4K2/GCK. This kinase is involved in the signal transduction mediating the cell responses to proinflammatory cytokines, and environmental stresses. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2014] CIViC Summary for MAP2K7 Gene
Forensic Context
A study in mice demonstrated that the MAP2K7 was down-regulated in brain tissue at 8 hours (0.479-fold) and 24 hours (0.496-fold) following whole-body irradiation with 10 Gy γ-rays [Zhao et al. DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-05-2418]. In a separate clinical study of human burn patients, the MAP2K7 was identified as a gene related only to age and not to burn injury, being classified into a group showing a main effect of age [Zhou et al. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1002757107].