In vitro
, TAO (thousand and one amino acid) protein kinase 2 (TAO2) activates
MAP/ERK kinases (MEKs) 3, 4, and 6 toward thei
r substrates p38 MAP kinase JNK/SAPK (Chen et al.,
1999; Chen and Cobb, 2001). This and more recent work has led to the proposal that the TAO protein
kinases play an essential role in signaling from
physiological agonists to the stress-responsive p38
MAPKs (Chen et al., 2003). Autophos
phorylation of TAO may play a
role in the mechanism of TAO
activation. The MEK binding domain of TAO is
autophosphorylated on both serine and threonine
residues and Ser
181
is located within this domain.
