Entrez 7083 | Ensembl ENSG00000167900 | |
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Aliases TK1, TK2, Thymidine kinase 1 External IDs MGI: 98763 HomoloGene: 37749 GeneCards: TK1 | ||
Thymidine kinase 1, soluble (gene name TK1), is a human thymidine kinase.
Contents
Two forms of this protein have been identified in animal cells, one in cytosol and one in mitochondria. Activity of the cytosolic enzyme is high in proliferating cells and peaks during the S-phase of the cell cycle; it is very low in resting cells.
Interactions
Thymidine kinase 1 has been shown to interact with P21.
Interactive pathway map
Click on genes, proteins and metabolites below to link to respective articles.
Cancer detection
Thymidine kinase has been making a growing impact in the cancer research community. It has been found that elevated blood serum levels of TK-1 correlates with metastatic capabilities of the cancer and thereby can be used to detect malignant types of cancer, furthermore TK-1 has been found to show up in blood serum even before clinical symptoms even start to show. This would allow quicker treatment before the cancer becomes too developed. TK-1 has also been found to correlate with the return of breast cancer along with many more types of cancer. TK-1 can be used to detect cancer earlier, determine what stage it is in, and if in remission it can be used to predict another cancer growth event. Attempts to make commercial ELISA tests to test blood serum levels have not been promising.