The first and corresponding author of the paper is Dr Gábor Mórotz, a research associate of our Institute. Dr Mórotz has developed a new nomenclature for the lemur tail kinase (LMTK) protein family in this paper, co-authored with leading international experts in the field. LMTK proteins are involved in learning and development of memory, intracellular transport and regulation of gene expression. However, the function of LMTK proteins is disturbed in the most common types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and in a severe disease affecting the lungs, cystic fibrosis. Recently, the protein family has received particular attention in cancer, as one of its members has been identified as a prostate cancer predisposing gene, while other members are prognostic markers in colorectal, gastric, prostate and breast cancers. In light of these findings, LMTK proteins may play an important role in the pathomechanism of these severe diseases and could be potential new therapeutic drug targets. However, the parallel discovery of members of this protein family and inaccurate prediction of their activity has led to confusing and misleading nomenclature. Now, that these proteins are receiving increasing attention, the development of a simple and unambiguous LMTK nomenclature has become essential. This is the purpose of the paper by Dr. Mórotz and colleagues, helping the scientific community to obtain accurate and consistent information about these molecules.
You can read the study clicking this link.