AUTHOR=Wu Chuxin , Zhang Yibing , Hu Chengyu 

TITLE=PKZ, a Fish-Unique eIF2α Kinase Involved in Innate Immune Response

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00585

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.00585

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=PKZ is a novel and unique eIF2α protein kinase identified in fish. Although PKZ is most homologous to PKR, particularly in the C-terminal catalytic domain, it contains two N-terminal Z-DNA-binding domains (Z1 and Z2) instead of the dsRNA binding domains (dsRBDs) in PKR. As a novel member of eIF2α kinase family, the available data suggest that PKZ has some distinct mechanisms for recognition, binding and B-Z DNA transition. Functionally, PKZ seems to be activated by the binding of Z to Z-DNA and participates in innate immune responses. In this review, we summarize the recent progress on fish PKZ.