Dual specificity kinase. Is activated by cytokines and environmental stress in vivo. Catalyzes the concomitant phosphorylation of a threonine and a tyrosine residue in the MAP kinase p38. Part of a signaling cascade that begins with the activation of the adrenergic receptor ADRA1B and leads to the activation of MAPK14.
Abundant expression is seen in the skeletal muscle. It is also widely expressed in other tissues.