This gene product is a 626-amino acid polypeptide that is 96.5% identical to mouse Mekk3. Its catalytic domain is closely related to those of several other kinases, including mouse Mekk2, tobacco NPK, and yeast Ste11. Northern blot analysis revealed a 4.6-kb transcript that appears to be ubiquitously expressed. This protein directly regulates the stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) pathways by activating SEK and MEK1/2 respectively; it does not regulate the p38 pathway. In cotransfection assays, it enhanced transcription from a nuclear factor kappa-B (NFKB)-dependent reporter gene, consistent with a role in the SAPK pathway. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been observed. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Forensic Context
A study in rats demonstrated that the MAP3K3 (Map3k3) was identified as a potential regulator of methamphetamine reward and addiction through transcriptome profiling of whisker follicles, showing an up-down regulated expression pattern (1.41-fold after self-administration, 0.72-fold after withdrawal) and a betweenness centrality score of 0.0133 [Song et al. DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-29772-1]. A study in rats demonstrated that the MAP3K3 was significantly altered in liver gene expression on day 1 following a 20% total body surface area burn injury, where it was classified as a signaling gene involved in inflammatory signaling [Jayaraman et al. DOI:10.1016/j.jss.2007.05.025].