SNF1/AMP-Activated Protein Kinases: Genes, Expression and Biological Role

Most of the physiological and metabolic processes in any organism are controlled by a regulatory factor network, which includes a lot of protein kinases, protein phosphatases and transcription factors. Protein kinases and phosphatases are key regulators of the majority of transcription factors which control metabolism both in normal and in different pathological conditions; it is a circadian type of regulation [1–5]. AMPK-related kinases SNARK and NUAK1 as well as many others AMPK-related kinases represent molecular components of signalling cascades that control metabolism, gene expression and perhaps cell proliferation in response to cellular, metabolic and environmental stresses [6–8].