Mitogen-activated protein kinase 12 (MAP kinase 12), also known as extracellular signal-regulated kinase 6 (ERK6) or stress-activated protein kinase 3 (SAPK3), is an enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 that in humans is encoded by the MAPK12 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

.

Function

Activation of members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase

Mitogen-activated protein kinase

Mitogen-activated protein kinases are serine/threonine-specific protein kinases that respond to extracellular stimuli and regulate various cellular activities, such as gene expression, mitosis, differentiation, proliferation, and cell survival/apoptosis.-Activation:MAP kinases are activated...

 family is a major mechanism for transduction

Signal transduction

Signal transduction occurs when an extracellular signaling molecule activates a cell surface receptor. In turn, this receptor alters intracellular molecules creating a response...

 of extracellular signals. Stress-activated protein kinases are one subclass of MAP kinases. The protein encoded by this gene functions as a signal transducer during differentiation of myoblast

Myoblast

A myoblast is a type of embryonic progenitor cell that gives rise to muscle cells .The muscle cells can be skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, and cardiac muscle....

s to myotubes.

Further reading