CLONING OF FRK, A NOVEL HUMAN INTRACELLULAR SRC-LIKE TYROSINE KINASE-ENCODING GENE

We report the cloning of a novel tyrosine kinase (TyK)-encoding gene (TYK) from the human hepatoma cell line Hep3B. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and oligodeoxyribonucleotide primers based on conserved TYK motifs, a 180-bp fragment was cloned and used to obtain full-length cDNA clones of 2.9 kb, with an open reading frame of 505 amino acids (aa). Restricted expression was detected by Northern blotting or reverse-transcribed PCR in a broad range of cell lines. The predicted aa sequence contains characteristic TyK motifs without a transmembrane region, suggesting an intracellular localization. There was 49% aa sequence identity with human FYN product and 47% with human SRC product; however, several structural differences distinguish this clone from other SRC subfamily members. This clone, FYN-related kinase or FRK, is a novel member of the intracellular TYK gene family.