Docking interactions in protein kinase and phosphatase networks

To achieve high biological specificity, protein kinases and phosphatases often recognize their targets through interactions that occur outside of the active site. Although the role of modular protein–protein interaction domains in kinase and phosphatase signaling has been well characterized, it is becoming clear that many kinases and phosphatases utilize docking interactions — recognition of a short peptide motif in target partners by a groove on the catalytic domain that is separate from the active site. Docking is particularly prevalent in serine/threonine kinases and phosphatases, and is a versatile organizational tool for building complex signaling networks; it confers a high degree of specificity and, in some cases, allosteric regulation.