MAP3K13 and neurodegenerative disease: The mixed lineage kinase (MLK) family of MAPKKKS activates the neuronal death signaling pathway by phosphorylating and activating downstream MAPK kinases (MKKs), and then induces the phosphorylation and activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), which are the basic mediators of neuronal death observed in various neurodegenerative diseases (Chen et al., 2012).