Species Human Entrez 8997 | Human Mouse Ensembl ENSG00000160145 | |
Aliases KALRN, ARHGEF24, CHD5, CHDS5, DUET, DUO, HAPIP, TRAD, kalirin, RhoGEF kinase External IDs MGI: 2685385 HomoloGene: 57160 GeneCards: KALRN | ||
Kalirin, also known as Huntingtin-associated protein-interacting protein (HAPIP), protein duo (DUO), or serine/threonine-protein kinase with Dbl- and pleckstrin homology domain, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the KALRN gene. Kalirin was first identified in 1997 as a protein interacting with huntingtin-associated protein 1. Is also known to play an important role in nerve growth and axonal development.
Kalirin is a member of the Dbl family of proteins and is a Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor. It is named after the multiple-handed Hindu goddess Kali for its ability to interact with numerous other proteins. Kalirin's other name, DUO, comes from the fact that it is 98% identical to rat DUO protein and 80.6% identical to a human protein named TRIO. Unlike TRIO, which is expressed in numerous tissues, Kalirin isoforms are mainly found in the brain.
Clinical significance
Several isoforms of Kalirin are produced through alternative splicing. One of the isoforms, Kalirin-7, was found to be necessary for the remodeling of synapses in mature cortical neurons and is thought to be important in the development of schizophrenia, as demonstrated by adolescent development of schizophrenia-like symptoms in kalirin knockout mice. Alzheimer's disease may also be linked to kalirin-7.