Non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase which is activated following engagement of many different classes of cellular receptors including immune response receptors, integrins and other adhesion receptors, receptor protein tyrosine kinases, G protein-coupled receptors as well as cytokine receptors. Participates in signaling pathways that control a diverse spectrum of biological activities including gene transcription, immune response, cell adhesion, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, migration, and transformation. Due to functional redundancy between members of the SRC kinase family, identification of the specific role of each SRC kinase is very difficult. SRC appears to be one of the primary kinases activated following engagement of receptors and plays a role in the activation of other protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) families. Receptor clustering or dimerization leads to recruitment of SRC to the receptor complexes where it phosphorylates the tyrosine residues within the receptor cytoplasmic domains. Plays an important role in the regulation of cytoskeletal organization through phosphorylation of specific substrates involved in this process. When cells adhere via focal adhesions to the extracellular matrix, signals are transmitted by integrins into the cell resulting in tyrosine phosphorylation of a number of focal adhesion proteins, including PTK2/FAK1 and paxillin (PXN). Also active at the sites of cell-cell contact adherens junctions and at gap junctions. Implicated in the regulation of pre-mRNA-processing. Might be involved not only in mediating the transduction of mitogenic signals at the level of the plasma membrane but also in controlling progression through the cell cycle via interaction with regulatory proteins in the nucleus. Involved in anchorage-independent cell growth.
