Myosin Light Chain Kinase

Supporting information

Myosin Light Chain Kinases (MLCKs) are a group of protein serine/threonine kinases that is currently divided into two subtypes, MLCK1 and MLCK2. MLCK1 is found in smooth muscle and phosphorylates myosin II regulatory light chains at Ser¹⁹, allowing myosin crossbridges to bind to actin filaments and initiate contraction.

In addition to smooth muscle contraction, MLCK1 is involved in a diverse range of biological processes including control of endothelial and vascular permeability, growth initiation of astrocytes processes, neurotransmitter release in the sympathetic nervous system and apoptosis of fibroblasts. MLCK2 is found in striated muscle and co-localizes with phosphorylated MLC filaments to mediate skeletal and cardiac muscle contraction. MLCK3 and MLCK4 have recently been identified but are yet to be fully characterized. MLCKs are activated by Ca²⁺-calmodulin complexes and require Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺ as a co-factor.

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Gene	Species	Gene Symbol	Gene Accession No.	Protein Accession No.

MLCK1	Human	MYLK	NM_053025	Q5MYA0
	Mouse	Mylk	NM_139300	Q6PDN3
	Rat	Mylk	NM_001105874	XP_213611
MLCK2	Human	MYLK2	NM_033118	Q9H1R3
	Mouse	Mylk2	NM_001081044	Q8VCR8
	Rat	Mylk2	NM_057209	P20689
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