About NCK Adaptor Protein:
The NCK Adaptor Protein, also known as simply NCK, is part of the adaptor protein family. There are two recognized members found in humans, which are known as Nck-1/Nckalpha and NcK2/NcKbeta. There are also two found in mouse cells and a final member in the drosophila, better known as the common fruit fly.
NCK Mechanism
Links between NCK, glucose tolerance and insulin signaling have been discovered in the liver. There is also evidence that NCK is associated with bone mass, with a deficiency in NCK1 accelerating osteoporosis from mechanical stress.
The adapter protein is also part of cellular remodeling after being activated from the signal binding to a receptor tyrosine kinase. This reorganization causes Rho and GTPases to move and strengthen bonds between extracellular matrix components that encourage motion.
NCK Interactions
NCK interacts with as many as 27 proteins that include ABL1, CBL, MAP4K1, RICS, and WAS. depending on the protein, NCK will activate, deactivate, will be activated by, or has another effect.
NCK Function
The primary function of this gene is related to signaling and transforming proteins that contain SH2 and SH3 domains. Found in the cytoplasm, it transduces signals from receptor tyrosine kinases to recipients such as RAS, a superfamily of genes.
NCK Structure
The murine gene products have shown to be 68% identical to one another, and the most significant variation is located in the linking regions of SH3 and SH2 domains. These are 96% identical when compared to human counterparts. The human NCK1 gene is localized within chromosome 3, in the 3q21 locus, whereas the NCK2 gene is situated in chromosome 2 at the 2q12 locus.