Kinase

In the field of biochemistry, a kinase is a kind of enzyme that has the ability to transfer phosphate groups from donor molecules with high energy levels (such as adenosine triphosphate or ATP) to specific substrates. This chemical process is known as phosphorylation. Belonging to the larger family of phosphotransferases, kinases should not be confused with phosphorylases, which in turn carry out phosporolysis or the breaking of a chemical bond with an inorganic phosphate group. Kinases should also not be confused with phosphatases, which remove phosphate groups from substrates.

There are many kinds of kinases, but the largest of these groups are the protein kinases. This kind of kinases acts on and modify the activity of specific proteins. Kinases are often used to transmit signals and control various complex processes in the cells. Because of their enormous diversity and their important role in signalling, makes them an interesting object of study for scientists. In human bodies alone, scientists have discovered more than five hundred different kinases.

Kinases are also found to act on small molecules such as amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleotides, where they play an important role in signalling for various cellular processes or to prime them for metabolic pathways. When naming kinases, scientists often name the substances after their substrates.

Protein kinases modify other proteins through chemically adding phosphate groups to these substances through the process of phosphorylation. This process results into a functional change of the target protein (or the substrate) through changing enzyme activity, cellular location, or the association with other proteins. Kinases also constitute two percent of all human genes, and can also modify up to thirty percent of all human proteins. Protein kinases can also be found in bacteria and plants.

This category contains scientific information on kinase, which are essential enzymes in humans, animals, plants, and bacteria.