Serine/Threonine Kinase 31 (STK31)

STK31 is similar to a mouse gene that encodes a putative protein kinase with a tudor domain, and shows testis-specific expression. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. In a systematic search for genes expressed in mouse spermatogonia but not in somatic tissues, Wang et al. (2001) identified 25 genes, 19 of which were novel, that are expressed in only male germ cells. One of these genes, Stk31, maps to chromosome 6 and encodes a putative protein kinase with a tudor domain, found in RNA-interacting proteins, and a coiled-coil domain. Stk31 shows testis-specific expression. Wang et al. (2001) identified an orthologous, full-length human STK31 cDNA sequence.By radiation hybrid analysis, Wang et al. (2001) mapped the human STK31 gene to chromosome 7.