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Protein / target

Tyrosine-protein kinase BTK

Encoded byBTKQ06187Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
11
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Non-membrane spanning protein tyrosine kinase

Strongest disease association

X-linked agammaglobulinemia

Via encoding gene BTK · Genetic evidence · score 0.95

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Small molecules and protein degraders

Research activity

Emerging research

2 papers · latest 2025

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Non-receptor tyrosine kinase indispensable for B lymphocyte development, differentiation and signaling.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Non-receptor tyrosine kinase indispensable for B lymphocyte development, differentiation and signaling (PubMed:19290921). Binding of antigen to the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) triggers signaling that ultimately leads to B-cell activation (PubMed:19290921). After BCR engagement and activation at the plasma membrane, phosphorylates PLCG2 at several sites, igniting the downstream signaling pathway through calcium mobilization, followed by activation of the protein kinase C (PKC) family members (PubMed:11606584). PLCG2 phosphorylation is performed in close cooperation with the adapter protein B-cell linker protein BLNK (PubMed:11606584). BTK acts as a platform to bring together a diverse array of signaling proteins and is implicated in cytokine receptor signaling pathways (PubMed:16517732, PubMed:17932028). Plays an important role in the function of immune cells of innate as well as adaptive immunity, as a component of the Toll-like receptors (TLR) pathway (PubMed:16517732). The TLR pathway acts as a primary surveillance system for the detection of pathogens and are crucial to the activation of host defense (PubMed:16517732). Especially, is a critical molecule in regulating TLR9 activation in splenic B-cells (PubMed:16517732, PubMed:17932028). Within the TLR pathway, induces tyrosine phosphorylation of TIRAP which leads to TIRAP degradation (PubMed:16415872). BTK also plays a critical role in transcription regulation (PubMed:19290921). Induces the activity of NF-kappa-B, which is involved in regulating the expression of hundreds of genes (PubMed:19290921). BTK is involved on the signaling pathway linking TLR8 and TLR9 to NF-kappa-B (PubMed:19290921). Acts as an activator of NLRP3 inflammasome assembly by mediating phosphorylation of NLRP3 (PubMed:34554188). Transiently phosphorylates transcription factor GTF2I on tyrosine residues in response to BCR (PubMed:9012831). GTF2I then translocates to the nucleus to bind regulatory enhancer elements to modulate gene expression (PubMed:9012831). ARID3A and NFAT are other transcriptional target of BTK (PubMed:16738337). BTK is required for the formation of functional ARID3A DNA-binding complexes (PubMed:16738337). There is however no evidence that BTK itself binds directly to DNA (PubMed:16738337). BTK has a dual role in the regulation of apoptosis (PubMed:9751072). Plays a role in STING1-mediated induction of type I interferon (IFN) response by phosphorylating DDX41 (PubMed:25704810)

Subcellular location

CytoplasmCell membraneNucleusMembrane raft
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (58)

Domains & features

PHSH3SH2Protein kinase

Gene Ontology

  • Ccytoplasm
  • Ccytoplasmic vesicle
  • Ccytosol
  • Cmembrane raft
  • Cnucleus
  • Cperinuclear region of cytoplasm
  • Cplasma membrane
  • FATP binding
  • Fidentical protein binding
  • Fnon-membrane spanning protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • Fphosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate binding
  • Fphospholipase activator activity

659 aa · 76 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Receptor tyrosine kinase signallingUniProtImmune signallingUniProt · GO · ReactomeTranscriptional regulationUniProt · GO
View supporting evidence

Receptor tyrosine kinase signalling

  • ·Non-receptor tyrosine kinase indispensable for B lymphocyte development, differentiation…

Immune signalling

  • ·Non-receptor tyrosine kinase indispensable for B lymphocyte development, differentiation…
  • ·adaptive immune response
  • ·B cell activation
  • ·B cell receptor signaling pathway

Transcriptional regulation

  • ·Non-receptor tyrosine kinase indispensable for B lymphocyte development, differentiation…
  • ·DNA-templated transcription
View underlying pathways (14)

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

LCP2SYKPLCG2BLNKLYNVAV1MYD88GRB2GTF2IPIK3CDBTK

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

3 medicines · 3 areas

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell3 medicines
Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell2 medicines
Broader indication categories (1)

Broad umbrella indications (e.g. “Neoplasms”). Shown here because every medicine also appears under a more specific disease above — kept for completeness, de-emphasised for clarity.

11 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 3 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

5

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

ibrutinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase BTK inhibitor

Indicated for Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell, Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell, Neoplasms

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

rilzabrutinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase BTK inhibitor

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

zanubrutinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase BTK inhibitor

Indicated for Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell, Neoplasms

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

acalabrutinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase BTK inhibitor

Indicated for Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell, Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell, Neoplasms

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

Orelabrutinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase BTK inhibitor

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene BTK

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene BTKthat encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

X-linked agammaglobulinemia
0.96Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.85

isolated growth hormone deficiency type III
0.95Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.73

Non-acquired isolated growth hormone deficiency
0.95Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.73

Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell
0.90Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.72

Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell
0.88Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.69

View evidence synthesis (5)
X-linked agammaglobulinemiaWell supported
0.96
agreement 0.841.00
Genetic81%Animal model15%Literature4%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.85 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

isolated growth hormone deficiency type IIIWell supported
0.95
agreement 0.831.00
Genetic87%Animal model13%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.73 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Non-acquired isolated growth hormone deficiencyWell supported
0.95
agreement 0.831.00
Genetic87%Animal model13%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.73 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-CellWell supported
0.90
agreement 0.791.00
Clinical49%Somatic mutation26%Pathway16%Literature10%

Open Targets aggregate 0.72 · 4 independent evidence families

Lymphoma, Mantle-CellWell supported
0.88
agreement 0.770.98
Clinical52%Somatic mutation21%Pathway17%Literature10%

Open Targets aggregate 0.69 · 4 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
X-linked agammaglobulinemia0.85
isolated growth hormone deficiency type III0.73
Non-acquired isolated growth hormone deficiency0.73
Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell0.72
Bruton-type agammaglobulinemia0.70
Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell0.69
Isolated agammaglobulinemia0.69
Neoplasms0.59
Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia0.56
Alopecia Areata0.56

Drug development

24 compounds recorded · 11 approved · 13 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 5 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (3 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (10)
VECABRUTINIBPhase 1 2
TOLEBRUTINIBPreapproval
PIRTOBRUTINIBApproval
ACALABRUTINIBApproval
ELSUBRUTINIBPhase 2
ZANUBRUTINIBApproval
SPEBRUTINIBPhase 2
ABIVERTINIBPhase 3
ORELABRUTINIBApproval
MSC-2364447Phase 1

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Approved Drug and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and go cc high conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degradersSupported

Phase 1 Clinical and Literature support this modality.

View underlying tractability evidence (13)
SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · Human Protein Atlas locPR · Phase 1 ClinicalPR · LiteraturePR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Half-life DataPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Safety-related annotations

regulation of catalytic activityToxCast

Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

10

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 4 drugs that target this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. Regulatory approval2025-12-22

    Approval: Wayrilz (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via rilzabrutinib

  2. Regulatory approval2021-11-22

    Approval: Brukinsa (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via zanubrutinib

  3. New publication2021-06-01
    Zanubrutinib for the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

    Blood advances · 2021 · 77 citations · Europe PMC · via zanubrutinib

  4. Regulatory approval2020-11-05

    Approval: Calquence (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via acalabrutinib

  5. New publication2020-05-27
    Treatment of Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Mantle-Cell Lymphoma with Zanubrutinib, a Selective Inhibitor of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase.

    Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2020 · 136 citations · Europe PMC · via zanubrutinib

  6. New publication2020-05-11
    Treatment of relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma with the BTK inhibitor zanubrutinib: phase 2, single-arm, multicenter study.

    Journal of hematology & oncology · 2020 · 99 citations · Europe PMC · via zanubrutinib

  7. New publication2019-08-01
    Ibrutinib-Rituximab or Chemoimmunotherapy for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2019 · 563 citations · Europe PMC · via ibrutinib

  8. New publication2018-06-05
    A head-to-head Phase III study comparing zanubrutinib versus ibrutinib in patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

    Future oncology (London, England) · 2018 · 28 citations · Europe PMC · via ibrutinib

  9. Safety communication2017-08-15

    Drug Safety Update: Ibrutinib (Imbruvica▼): reports of ventricular tachyarrhythmia; risk of hepatitis B reactivation and of opportunistic infections

    mhra · safety · mhra · via ibrutinib

  10. Regulatory approval2014-10-21

    Approval: Imbruvica (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via ibrutinib

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.

Research activity

2 papers · to 2025

Papers linked directly to this protein. This is the protein's own literature — descriptor-derived papers are kept separate below.

Most cited

Desai JV · The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024

Recent

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.