Review

Crk and CrkL adaptor proteins: networks for physiological and pathological signaling

Raymond B Birge¹ , Charalampos Kalodimos² , Fuyuhiko Inagaki³ and Shinya Tanaka⁴

¹  Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave, Newark, NJ 07103, USA

²  Department of Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers University, 599 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA

³  Department of Structural Biology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, N-21, W-11, kita-ku, Sapporo, 001-0021, Japan

⁴  Department of Pathology, Division of Medicine, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, North 15, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan

author email corresponding author email

Cell Communication and Signaling 2009, 7:13doi:10.1186/1478-811X-7-13

Published:	10 May 2009

Abstract

The Crk adaptor proteins (Crk and CrkL) constitute an integral part of a network of essential signal transduction pathways in humans and other organisms that act as major convergence points in tyrosine kinase signaling. Crk proteins integrate signals from a wide variety of sources, including growth factors, extracellular matrix molecules, bacterial pathogens, and apoptotic cells. Mounting evidence indicates that dysregulation of Crk proteins is associated with human diseases, including cancer and susceptibility to pathogen infections. Recent structural work has identified new and unusual insights into the regulation of Crk proteins, providing a rationale for how Crk can sense diverse signals and produce a myriad of biological responses.