Yi Pan

Mixed Lineage Kinase 3 (MLK3), an enzyme encoded by MAP3K11 gene, is a serine/threonine kinase belonging to the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAP3K) protein family.  It plays an important role in protecting against cardiomyocyte injury. In our lab, we have shown that whole body MLK3 knockout mice have hypertension. These mice have genetic MLK3 deletion from the time of fertilization.Mice with postnatal MLK3 deletion selectively from the smooth muscle cell have normal blood pressure. So the aim of my  project is to test how much of the effect of MLK3 on blood pressure comes from its role in the adult animal, versus how much of it comes from a role during embryological development through studying the cardiovascular phenotype of mice with whole body genetic deletion of MLK3.