Background information
JIP-4 is a 1,321 amino acid protein encoded by the human gene SPAG9. It contains a large N-terminal extracellular domain, a short transmembrane helical domain, and a cytoplasmic domain. There are 6 N-glycosylation sites, several phosphorylation sites for cAMP/cGMP-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C, and casein kinase II, and 10 putative myristoylation sites. There is also a leucine zipper motif, with 6 leucine repeats, that may aid in dimerization since there is no upstream basic domain characteristic of DNA binding proteins. The JNK-interacting protein (JIP) group of scaffold proteins selectively mediates JNK signaling by aggregating specific components of the MAPK cascade to form a functional JNK signaling module. JIP-4 is a cytoplasmic, perinuclear protein that has eight known isoforms whose expression varies by tissue and disease state.
