- #1
Matt204823545
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- TL;DR Summary
- How exactly does FAK influence the MAPK pathway?
The above image (source) is pretty much the only thing we're told about how the MAPK pathway is activated. However, in passing, FAK was mentioned. We were told that focal adhesion integrins activate FAK which then activates the MAPK pathway. Seen in the image (source) below
However the two images seem very contradictory. Not only that, but if you Ctrl-F for "fak" or "focal adhesion kinase" on MAPL/ERK pathway (wiki), NOTHING comes up!? On the FAK wiki page "MAPK" isn't mentioned, and "mitogen" is vaguely mentioned in a way that is difficult for me (2nd year biomedicine) to fully understand.
I don't see how FAK can fit into the model I learned in the first image above. I've seen many answers to this but they're all vague and seem to contradict one another.