Seroatlas · Human Serome Atlas

MELK

Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase

Also known as: KIAA0175, MELK_HUMAN

Cross-references: UniProt · Ensembl · Human Protein Atlas · GeneCards · NCBI Gene

Protein identityUniProt · HPA

UniProt accession: Q14680
Gene: MELK
Ensembl: ENSG00000165304
Chromosome: 9
Canonical length: 651 aa
Protein class: Disease related genes, Enzymes, Plasma proteins, Potential drug targets, Predicted intracellular proteins, Predicted membrane proteins

OverviewNCBI Gene

Enables calcium ion binding activity; non-membrane spanning protein tyrosine kinase activity; and protein serine/threonine kinase activity. Involved in apoptotic process; cell population proliferation; and protein autophosphorylation. Located in cell cortex and plasma membrane. [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Jul 2025]

Canonical amino-acid sequenceUniProt

651 residues, UniProt reviewed canonical sequence.

>Q14680|MELK
     1  MKDYDELLKY YELHETIGTG GFAKVKLACH ILTGEMVAIK IMDKNTLGSD LPRIKTEIEA
    61  LKNLRHQHIC QLYHVLETAN KIFMVLEYCP GGELFDYIIS QDRLSEEETR VVFRQIVSAV
   121  AYVHSQGYAH RDLKPENLLF DEYHKLKLID FGLCAKPKGN KDYHLQTCCG SLAYAAPELI
   181  QGKSYLGSEA DVWSMGILLY VLMCGFLPFD DDNVMALYKK IMRGKYDVPK WLSPSSILLL
   241  QQMLQVDPKK RISMKNLLNH PWIMQDYNYP VEWQSKNPFI HLDDDCVTEL SVHHRNNRQT
   301  MEDLISLWQY DHLTATYLLL LAKKARGKPV RLRLSSFSCG QASATPFTDI KSNNWSLEDV
   361  TASDKNYVAG LIDYDWCEDD LSTGAATPRT SQFTKYWTES NGVESKSLTP ALCRTPANKL
   421  KNKENVYTPK SAVKNEEYFM FPEPKTPVNK NQHKREILTT PNRYTTPSKA RNQCLKETPI
   481  KIPVNSTGTD KLMTGVISPE RRCRSVELDL NQAHMEETPK RKGAKVFGSL ERGLDKVITV
   541  LTRSKRKGSA RDGPRRLKLH YNVTTTRLVN PDQLLNEIMS ILPKKHVDFV QKGYTLKCQT
   601  QSDFGKVTMQ FELEVCQLQK PDVVGIRRQR LKGDAWVYKR LVEDILSSCK V

LocalizationUniProt · AlphaFold · HPA

Whether an antibody against MELK can act on the native protein depends on physical access: surface and secreted proteins are reachable by circulating antibodies, intracellular proteins usually are not.

Antibody reachability: Cell surface
Secreted: No
Transmembrane segments: 0
Mean surface accessibility (rSASA): 0.38
Highest tissue expression: 20 nTPM

Expression across tissuesHPA

Tissue

thymus: 20 nTPM
tonsil: 11 nTPM
bone marrow: 9.6 nTPM
lymph node: 9.3 nTPM
testis: 8.6 nTPM
rectum: 8 nTPM

Single-cell type

monocyte progenitors: 118 nCPM
sertoli cells: 118 nCPM
erythrocyte progenitors: 111 nCPM
extravillous trophoblasts: 82 nCPM
early primary spermatocytes: 77 nCPM
differentiating spermatogonia: 65 nCPM

Immune cell

T-reg: 1.7 nTPM
eosinophil: 0.4 nTPM
memory CD8 T-cell: 0.3 nTPM
memory CD4 T-cell: 0.2 nTPM
plasmacytoid DC: 0.2 nTPM
naive CD8 T-cell: 0.1 nTPM

Brain region

thalamus: 0.7 nTPM
pons: 0.3 nTPM
amygdala: 0.1 nTPM
cerebral cortex: 0.1 nTPM
choroid plexus: 0.1 nTPM
medulla oblongata: 0.1 nTPM

Genetic constraint and essentialitygnomAD · DepMap

Does the body need this protein intact? Low LOEUF or a strong DepMap dependency means loss or blockade of the protein is likely to be felt.

gnomAD LOEUF (loss-of-function intolerance): 1.25
gnomAD pLI: 0
gnomAD missense Z: 0.9
DepMap mean gene effect: -0.01
DepMap dependency class: selective

Cancer expressionTCGA

Across TCGA tumor cohorts, this protein is over-expressed in roughly 6% of surveyed tumor types (aggregate summary; per-cohort expression, alteration, and survival load in the interactive view).

OntologyGO

Biological processes

Molecular functions

Cellular components

Protein domainsUniProt · Pfam · InterPro

Protein kinase domain
Kinase associated domain 1 (KA1)
Serine/threonine-protein kinase, active site
Protein kinase-like domain superfamily
Protein kinase, ATP binding site
KA1 domain/Ssp2, C-terminal
Protein kinase domain
Kinase associated domain 1
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase, catalytic domain
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase, UBA domain
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase, UBA domain

KeywordsUniProt

InteractionsUniProt · HPA

Protein binding partners of MELK in the human serome: UniProt-annotated complex subunits plus reported interactors. Each links to its own Seroatlas record.

Antibody and autoantibody relevanceSeroatlas analysis

Seroatlas reads MELK as an antibody target. Whether an autoantibody or antibody against MELK could matter depends on whether native MELK is physically reachable, whether the body needs it intact, and whether it acts in a disease-relevant tissue.

MELK is annotated at the cell surface, where native MELK is exposed to circulating antibodies and is a prime autoantibody target that could block, deplete, or overstimulate it.

Annotation status

The present source text does not explicitly label MELK as an autoantigen. Seroatlas presents hypothesis context only and does not manufacture a known-serology claim.

Loading the interactive Seroatlas protein explorer...