Tony Hunter

Research summary

Discovery and systematic characterization of protein-tyrosine phosphorylation grounds this research record. A 1980 PNAS report demonstrated that pp60src, the transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus, phosphorylates tyrosine in immunoprecipitates; transformed chicken cells contained up to 8-fold more phosphotyrosine than uninfected cells, and phosphotyrosine was present on pp60src itself and on an associated 50,000-dalton phosphoprotein [5]. A 2002 Science cataloging effort identified 518 putative protein kinase genes in the human genome (the "kinome"), including 71 previously unreported kinases and 56 with corrected sequences, establishing the comprehensive framework for studying phosphorylation in normal and disease states [1]. Earlier phylogenetic work (1988 Science [2]; 1995 Methods in Enzymology classification [4]) mapped the conserved catalytic domains across the eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily, identifying 12 conserved subdomains and resolving the major split between protein-serine/threonine and protein-tyrosine kinases. A 1985 Annual Review of Biochemistry article on protein-tyrosine kinases [6] consolidated the early functional and structural understanding of this enzyme class. Beyond kinase biology, a 2020 Nature Reviews Cancer expert-meeting framework synthesized cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) heterogeneity—origins, functional diversity, matrix remodeling, signaling crosstalk with cancer cells and infiltrating leukocytes—and the challenges of selectively targeting protumorigenic CAF activity while preserving antitumorigenic functions [3]. The cited works collectively span the founding observation that tyrosine phosphorylation exists, the family-level enumeration of all human kinases, and the translation of kinase classification into oncology applications.

Recent publications

1. The Protein Kinase Complement of the Human Genome2002 · Science · 8107 citationsDOI
2. The Protein Kinase Family: Conserved Features and Deduced Phylogeny of the Catalytic Domains1988 · Science · 5124 citationsDOI
3. Oncogenic kinase signalling2001 · Nature · 3701 citationsDOI
4. A framework for advancing our understanding of cancer-associated fibroblasts2020 · Nature reviews. Cancer · 3685 citationsDOI
5. Protein kinases and phosphatases: The Yin and Yang of protein phosphorylation and signaling1995 · Cell · 2954 citationsDOI
6. An Integrative Model of Cellular States, Plasticity, and Genetics for Glioblastoma2019 · Cell · 2761 citationsDOI
7. Signaling—2000 and Beyond2000 · Cell · 2578 citationsDOI
8. Protein kinases 6. The eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily: kinase (catalytic) domain structure and classification.1995 · PubMed · 2543 citations
9. Transforming gene product of Rous sarcoma virus phosphorylates tyrosine1980 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2391 citationsDOI
10. PROTEIN-TYROSINE KINASES1985 · Annual Review of Biochemistry · 2140 citationsDOI

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External profiles

• ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7691-6993
• OpenAlex: openalex.org

Profile compiled from public sources (Researchmap, OpenAlex, Tohoku University faculty directory). Last refreshed 2026-05. Report incorrect information.