# Kinase

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/kinase/  
OnCo record `kinase` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

An enzyme that switches other proteins on by sticking a phosphate group onto them. Cancer signalling runs on kinases, and kinase inhibitors are the biggest class of targeted drugs.

## Summary

The human genome encodes about 500 kinases; a large share sit in growth pathways, including the inner part of receptors like EGFR and HER2 and the relay proteins BRAF, MEK, ALK, CDK4/6 and PI3K. A mutated kinase that stays permanently active is one of the commonest cancer drivers, and because kinases share a pocket that binds ATP (the phosphate donor), small molecules designed to occupy that pocket can shut them off. Imatinib against BCR-ABL in 2001 proved the idea; dozens of kinase inhibitors now exist, and successive generations are engineered to overcome the resistance mutations that arise in the pocket.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: kinases; tyrosine kinase; tyrosine kinases; protein kinase; protein kinases; kinase domain; tyrosine kinase inhibitor; tyrosine kinase inhibitors; TKI; TKIs

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinase
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinase

## Connected records

- terms: [Cell cycle](https://onco.cc/terms/cell-cycle/), [Downstream and upstream](https://onco.cc/terms/downstream/), [Drug resistance (primary and acquired)](https://onco.cc/terms/resistance/), [Enzyme](https://onco.cc/terms/enzyme/), [Growth signal](https://onco.cc/terms/growth-signal/), [Inhibitor](https://onco.cc/terms/inhibitor/), [Oncogene](https://onco.cc/terms/oncogene/), [Oncogene addiction](https://onco.cc/terms/oncogene-addiction/), [Phosphorylation](https://onco.cc/terms/phosphorylation/), [Protein](https://onco.cc/terms/protein/), [Receptor](https://onco.cc/terms/receptor/), [Signalling pathway](https://onco.cc/terms/signalling-pathway/), [Targeted therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/targeted-therapy-term/)
- technologies: [CDK4/6 inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/cdk46-inhibitor/), [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/)
- targets: [ALK](https://onco.cc/targets/alk/), [BRAF](https://onco.cc/targets/braf/), [CDK4/6](https://onco.cc/targets/cdk4-6/), [EGFR](https://onco.cc/targets/egfr/)
- drugs: [Imatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/imatinib/), [Lorlatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/lorlatinib/), [Osimertinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/osimertinib/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/kinase.json