Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 6 (MAP2K6)

Dual specificity protein kinase which acts as an essential part of the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway. With MAP3K3/MKK3, catalyzes the concomitant phosphorylation of a threonine and a tyrosine residue in the MAP kinases p38 MAPK11, MAPK12, MAPK13 and MAPK14 and plays a significant role in the regulation of cellular responses to cytokines and all sorts of stresses.

Notably, MAP2K3/MKK3 and MAP2K6/MKK6 are both essential for the activation of MAPK11 and MAPK13 induced by environmental stress, whereas MAP2K6/MKK6 is the significant MAPK11 activator in response to TNF. The p38 MAP kinase signal transduction pathway contributes to direct activation of transcription factors.