Protein kinase R

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-alpha kinase 2
Identifiers
Symbol EIF2AK2 PRKR, PKR, EIF2AK1
HUGO 9437
Entrez 5610
OMIM 176871
RefSeq NM_002759
UniProt P19525
Other data
Locus Chr. 2 p22-p21

Protein kinase R (PKR) is activated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and plays a major role in the cellular response to viral infection. PKR can also be activated by the protein PACT or by heparin. PKR contains an N-terminal dsRNA binding domain (dsRBD) and a C-terminal kinase domain. The dsRBD consists of two tandem copies of a conserved double stranded RNA binding motif, dsRBM1 and dsRBM2. PKR is induced by interferon in a latent state. Binding to dsRNA is believed to activate PKR by inducing dimerization and subsequent autophosphorylation reactions.