Spleen tyrosine kinase, also known as Syk, is an enzyme which in humans is encoded by the SYK gene.
SYK, along with Zap-70, is a member of the Syk family of tyrosine kinases. These non-receptor cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases share a characteristic dual SH2 domain separated by a linker domain.
While Syk and Zap-70 are primarily expressed in hematopoietic tissues, there is expression of Syk in a variety of tissues. Within B and T cells respectively, Syk and Zap-70 transmit signals from the B-Cell receptor and T-Cell receptor. Syk plays a similar role in transmitting signals from a variety of cell surface receptors including CD74, Fc Receptor, and integrins.
Abnormal function of Syk has been implicated in several instances of hematopoeitic malignancies including translocations involving Itk and Tel. Constitutive Syk activity can transform B cells. Several transforming viruses contain "Immunoreceptor Tyrosine Activation Motifs" (ITAMs) which lead to activation of Syk including Epstein Barr virus, bovine leukemia virus, and mouse mammary tumor virus.