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ALK Protein

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 70 Accesses

Synonyms

ALK; Anaplastic lymphoma kinase; CD246; Ki-1

Definition

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase with an essential role in early neural and muscle development. ALK phosphorylates intracellular molecules for the transduction of signals from the exterior of the cell to the nucleus. Aberrant expression of full-length ALK receptor protein has been reported in neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and glioblastoma while the presence of ALK fusion proteins in anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) has resulted in the identification of the tumor entity ALK-positive ALCL. ALK fusion proteins have also been reported in ALK-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma DLBCL, a subset of non–small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and a variety of other tumors. ALK is a rare example of a receptor tyrosine kinase that is expressed in both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic tumors.

Characteristics

The anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene (HUGO approved name anaplastic lymphoma...

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References

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See Also

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK

    Karen Pulford

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  1. Karen Pulford
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Correspondence to Karen Pulford .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Pulford, K. (2014). ALK Protein. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_179-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_179-5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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