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Choline Kinase

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 47 Accesses

Synonyms

CHETK; ChoK; Choline phosphokinase; Choline-ethanolamine kinase; CK

Definition

Choline kinase is the first enzyme in the Kennedy pathway of biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PC), one of the major components of eukaryotic membranes (Fig. 1). This enzyme catalyzes the phosphorylation of choline (Cho) or ethanolamine (ETA) in the presence of ATP and magnesium as a cofactor to yield phosphocholine (PCho) or phosphoethanolamine (PEta), respectively (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Kennedy pathway (also called choline pathway) of biosynthesis of PC. Choline, an essential nutrient whose main function underlies in the synthesis of PC, crosses the plasmatic membrane into the cell by passive diffusion or choline-specific transports. Within the cell, choline is phosphorylated by choline kinase (CK, EC 2.7.1.32) to yield phosphocholine (PCho), which in turn is converted into CDP-choline by CDP-phosphorylcholine cytidyltransferase (CT, EC 2.7.7.15). Then, through the action of DAG-choline...

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References

  • Aoyama C, Liao H, Ishidate K (2004) Structure and function of choline kinase isoforms in mammalian cells. Prog Lipid Res 43(3):266–281

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  • Glunde K, Bhujwalla ZM, Ronen SM (2011) Choline metabolism in malignant transformation. Nat Rev Cancer 11(12):835–848

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  • Lacal JC (2001) Choline kinase: a novel target for antitumor drugs. IDrugs 4(4):419–426

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  • Ramírez de Molina A, Sarmentero-Estrada J, Belda-Iniesta C et al (2007) Expression of choline kinase alpha to predict outcome in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer: a retrospective study. Lancet Oncol 8(10):889–897

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  • Wu G, Vance DE (2010) Choline kinase and its function. Biochem Cell Biol 88(4):559–564

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Genomics and Cancer Unit, IMDEA Food Institute, Madrid, Spain

    Ana Ramirez de Molina

Authors
  1. Ana Ramirez de Molina
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Correspondence to Ana Ramirez de Molina .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

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

    Manfred Schwab

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de Molina, A.R. (2014). Choline Kinase. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_7117-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_7117-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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