Figure 2. Tyrosine Kinase Pathway.

The single pass, type I receptor tyrosine kinase resides in the plasma membrane. The receptor tyrosine kinase is activated through the binding of a ligand leading to a ligand-induced dimerization with the cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase domain. The dimerization results in autophosphorylation of the tyrosine residues inducing conformational changes which stabilize the active site of the kinase. The phosphotyrosine residues act as recruitment sites for downstream signaling proteins.