| c-Src, the prototypical proto-oncogenic non-receptor tyrosine kinase and cellular counterpart to v-Src from Rous sarcoma virus, is the founding member of the Src family kinases (SFKs) that orchestrates cell proliferation, survival, migration, adhesion, and cytoskeletal remodeling in multicellular organisms. c-Src contains an N-terminal myristoylated SH4 domain for plasma membrane localization, a unique domain allowing SFK-specific interactions, an SH3 domain that binds proline-rich PxxP motifs, an SH2 domain recognizing phosphotyrosine (pTyr) residues, a catalytic SH1 kinase domain with an ATP-binding site and an activation loop containing the Tyr419 autophosphorylation site, and a C-terminal regulatory tail with the inhibitory Tyr527. c-Src integrates signals from integrins, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), and G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), phosphorylating over 100 substrates in pathways such as FAK-Src-p130Cas for adhesion turnover, Ras/ERK/PI3K for cell growth and survival, and cortactin/FAK for invadopodia formation in metastasis. Its autoinhibition is enforced by CSK-catalyzed phosphorylation of Tyr527, which binds the SH2 domain, while the SH3 domain grips the SH2-kinase linker to block substrate access, maintaining c-Src in a compact, inactive conformation. Activation requires precise reversal of these interactions via dephosphorylation by PTP1B or CD45, displacement of Csk-binding protein, or clustering-induced autophosphorylation at Tyr419, resulting in up to a 1000-fold increase in kinase activity. Dysregulation of c-Src, through C-terminal tail truncation (as in v-Src), CSK suppression, or overexpression, is observed in human cancers (including colon, breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancers). |