Background information
c-Kit is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase encoded by the cKit proto oncogene. c-Kit acts to regulate a variety of biological responses including cell proliferation, apoptosis, chemotaxis and adhesion. Ligand binding to the extracellular domain leads to autophosphorylation on several tyrosine residues within the cytoplasmic domain, and activation. Mutations in c-Kit have been found to be important for tumor growth and progression in a variety of cancers including mast cell diseases, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, acute myeloid leukemia, Ewing sarcoma and lung cancer. Phosphorylation at tyrosine 721 of c-Kit allows binding and activation of PI3 kinase.
