Integrin Linked Kinase (ILK)

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a 59kDa protein originally identified while conducting a yeast-two hybrid screen with integrin β1 as the bait protein. Since its discovery, ILK has been associated with multiple cellular functions including cell migration, cell proliferation, cell-adhesions, signal transduction. Transduction of extracellular matrix signals through integrins influences intracellular and extracellular functions, and appears to require interaction of integrin cytoplasmic domains with cellular proteins. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK), interacts with the cytoplasmic domain of beta-1 integrin. This gene encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase with 4 ankyrin-like repeats, which associates with the cytoplasmic domain of beta integrins and acts as a proximal receptor kinase regulating integrin-mediated signal transduction.