Mitogen activated protein kinase kinase 6 (MEK6 or MKK6) belongs to the serine/threonine protein kinase family and the MAPK kinase subfamily (MAP2K, MKK or MEKs). MEK6, closely related to MEK3, catalyzes the concomitant phosphorylation of a threonine and a tyrosine residue in MAP kinase p38, thus activating it, in response to inflammatory cytokines and environmental stress.As an essential component of p38 MAP kinase mediated signal transduction pathway, this protein is involved in many cellular processes such as stress induced cell cycle arrest, transcription activation and apoptosis.
