This gene encodes a member of a family of protein kinases that are involved in the integration of biochemical signals for a wide variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, transcriptional regulation, and development. The encoded protein can be activated by proinflammatory cytokines and environmental stresses through phosphorylation by mitogen activated protein kinase kinases (MKKs). Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Mar 2014].