Brutons tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a member of the BTK/Tec family of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases.All members of the family contain SH3 and SH2 domains and, with the exception of Txk and Dsrc28C, also contain a pleckstrin homology (PH) and a Tec homology (TH) domain in their amino termini.BTK plays an important role in B cell development. Activation of B cells by various ligands is accompanied by BTK membrane translocation mediated by its PH domain binding to phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate. The membrane located BTK is active and associated with transient phosphorylation of two tyrosine residues, Tyr551 and Tyr223. Tyr551 in the activation loop is transphosphorylated by the Src family tyrosine kinase, leading to autophosphorylation at Tyr223 within the SH3 domain, which is necessary for full activation.
