Characteristic of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is the presence of the
chimeric p120.sup.bcr-abl protein possessing elevated protein tyrosine
kinase activity relative to normal c-abl tyrosine kinase. Hematopoietic
progenitors isolated from CML patients in the chronic phase contain a
constitutively tyrosine phosphorylated protein that migrates at
approximately 62 kDa by SDS-PAGE and associates with the p120 ras
GTPase-activating protein (GAP). This novel protein, called p62.sup.dok
(p62 protein downstream of tyrosine kinases), was isolated from a
hematopoietic cell line expressing p120.sup.bcr-abl. Association of
p62.sup.dok with GAP correlates with its tyrosine phosphorylation.
p62.sup.dok is rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated upon activation of the
c-kit receptor, implicating it as a component of a signal transduction
pathway downstream of receptor tyrosine kinases.