MplK, a natural variant of the thrombopoietin receptor with a truncated cytoplasmic domain, binds thrombopoietin but does not interfere with thrombopoietin-mediated cell growth

Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 11823052

Exp. Hematol. 2002 Feb;30(2):166-75

Interaction of thrombopoietin (TPO) with its receptor c-Mpl is responsible for the formation of megakaryocytes and platelets. In humans, there are two major c-mpl molecules, MplP and MplK, which are generated by alternative splicing. In contrast to MplP, MplK has none of the intracellular sequences required for typical signal transduction but instead has a unique 27 amino acid sequence that is coded by intron 10. We tested to determine if MplK exerts a negative effect on TPO Mpl signal transduction by interfering with the normal homodimerization of MplP.