Table 2.

Proteins that interact with MELK.

Protein	Description	Interaction Effect	References
ZPR9	A physiological substrate of MELK kinase in vivo	Resulting in the nuclear accumulation of ZPR9	[51,52]
NIPP1	Transcription and splicing factor, inhibitor of protein Ser/Thr phosphatase-1	Regulating cell cycle progression through pre-mRNA processing	[13]
Cdc25B	Protein-tyrosine phosphatase	Inducing cell accumulation in G2	[4]
PDK1	An enzyme responsible for the phosphorylation of the activation loop of Akt/PKB	Inhibiting activity and function of PDK1	[53,54]
P53	Tumor suppressor	Enhancing p53-dependent apoptosis and cell cycle arrest by modulating the stability of p53	[32]
Smad proteins (Smad2, -3, -4, and -7)	Intracellular signaling mediators of the TGF-β signaling pathway	Regulating Smad activities involved in TGF-β signaling	[50]
ASK1	Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase	Enhancing of JNK-mediated transactivation and H2O2-induced apoptosis	[12]
Bcl-G	A pro-apoptotic factor	Resistance to apoptosis	[11]
MPF	Mitosis-promoting factor	Phosphorylating MELK and enhancing its kinase activity	[55]
MAPK	Mitogen-activated protein kinase	Phosphorylating MELK and enhancing its kinase activity	[55]