Tyrosine-protein kinase SYK, also known as spleen tyrosine kinase, is an enzyme which in humans is encoded by the SYK gene. SYK, along with ZAP70, is a member of the Syk family of tyrosine kinases. These cytoplasmic non-receptor tyrosine kinases share a characteristic dual SH2 domain separated by a linker domain. However, activation of SYK relies less on phosphorylation by Src family kinases than ZAP70. SYK and ZAP70 share a common evolutionary origin and split from a common ancestor in the jawed vertebrates. While Syk and ZAP70 are primarily expressed in hematopoietic tissues, a variety of tissues express Syk. Within B and T cells, respectively, Syk and ZAP70 transmit signals from the B-cell receptor and T-cell receptor. Syk plays a similar role in transmitting signals from a variety of cell surface receptors including CD74, Fc receptor, and integrins.