SRC gene

The SRC gene is very similar to the v-src gene of Rous sarcoma virus. SRC-plays proto-oncogene possibly in the regulation of embryonic development and cell growth. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene.

The protein encoded by the SRC gene is a tyrosine protein kinase whose activity can be inhibited by phosphorylation from the c-SRC kinase.

The encoded SRC protein is a "non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase" that is activated upon binding of numerous different classes of cellular receptors. These include immune receptors, integrins and other adhesion receptors, receptor protein tyrosine kinases, G protein-coupled receptors, and cytokine receptors. These are involved in various signaling pathways and control a wide range of biological activities. For example, gene transcription, immune response, cell adhesion, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, migration and transformation.

Due to the functional redundancy between members of the SRC kinase family, it is very difficult to determine the specific role of each SRC kinase. However, SRC appears to be one of the primary kinases activated after receptor activation and thus plays a role in the activation of other protein tyrosine kinase families.

Diseases associated with SRC include colon cancer (Irby RBet al. 1999; Shimada Yet al. 2019), squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. An important paralog of this gene is FRK.

1. Abe H et al (2013) Src plays a key role in ADAM28 expression in v-src-transformed epithelial cells and human carcinoma cells. Am J Pathol 183:1667-1678.
2. Irby RBet al (1999) Activating SRC mutation in a subset of advanced human colon cancers. Nat Genet 21:187-190.
3. Shimada Yet al. (2019) BRAF V600E and SRC mutations as molecular markers for predicting prognosis and conversion surgery in Stage IV colorectal cancer. Sci Rep 9: 2466.