Physiological Process

Immunoreceptor Tyrosine-Based Activation Motif

A conserved AMINO ACID SEQUENCE located in the intracellular domains of a family of transmembrane proteins involved in various IMMUNE RESPONSES. The CONSENSUS SEQUENCE of this motif is YXXL(or I)X(6-8)YXXL(or I) (where X denotes any amino acid). When phosphorylated ITAM motifs provide docking sites for PROTEIN TYROSINE KINASES of the Syk family thus forming signaling complexes which lead to activation of immune responses.