Nuclear localized transcription factor kinase and diagnostic assays related thereto

摘要

New nuclear kinases that are regulated by signal transduction and that participate in phosphorylation cascades which regulate transcription and related methods for regulating transcription. The novel nuclear kinases play a vital role in gene expression, particularly with regard to leukemia in humans. The kinase is (i) substantially exclusively intranuclearly localized; (ii) capable of autophosphorylation; (iii) selectively bindable with antibodies raised against the RING3 portion of GST-RING3; (iv) of a molecular weight of from about 82.5 to about 92.7 kilodaltons; and (v) includes peptide sequences Asp-Ser-Asn Pro-Asp-Glu-Ile-Glu-Ile-Asp-Phe-Glu-Thr-Leu-Lys-Pro-Thr-Thr-Leu (SEQ ID NO: 1) and Ala-Val-His-Glu-Gln-Leu-Ala-Ala-Leu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Pro (SEQ ID NO: 2). The invention features a method of detecting leukemic cells in a biological sample, the method includes measuring the activity of a RING3-related kinase in the sample, an increase in the activity relative to a control being indicative of the presence of leukemic cells.