Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7, also known as MAP kinase kinase 7 or MKK7, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the MAP2K7 gene. This protein is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase family. The MKK7 protein exists as six different isoforms with three possible N-termini (α, β, and γ isoforms) and two possible C-termini (1 and 2 isoforms).

MKK7 is involved in signal transduction mediating the cell responses to proinflammatory cytokines, and environmental stresses. This kinase specifically activates MAPK8/JNK1 and MAPK9/JNK2, and this kinase itself is phosphorylated and activated by MAP kinase kinase kinases including MAP3K1/MEKK1, MAP3K2/MEKK2, MAP3K3/MEKK5, and MAP4K2/GCK.^{[citation needed]}

MKK7 is ubiquitously expressed in all tissue. However, it displays a higher level of expression in skeletal muscle. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been found.

MAP2K7 is also known as:

The murine MKK7 protein is encoded by 14 exons which can be alternatively spliced to yield a group of protein kinases. This results in six isoforms with three possible N-termini (α, β, and γ isoforms) and two possible C-termini (1 and 2 isoforms). The molecular mass of the isoforms spans from 38 to 52 kDa, with between 345 and 467 amino acids.

The physiological relevance of the different MKK7 isoforms is still unclear. Evidence shows that the MKK7α, which lacks an NH₂-terminal extension, shows a lower basal activity in binding JNK compared to the MKKβ and γ isoforms. The increased basal activity in the β and γ isoforms can be due to the three D-motifs present in the N-terminus of these isoforms.

MKK7 has three conserved D-motifs (MAPK-recruiting short linear motifs) on its intrinsically disordered N-terminus. D-motifs typically consist of a cluster of positively charged amino acids followed by alternating hydrophobic amino acids. D-motifs are strictly required for the recruitment of MAPKK substrates, such as JNK. The kinase domains of MAPKs contain certain surface features, such as the so-called common docking (CD) region, alongside the docking (D) groove, that specifically recognize their cognate D-motifs. The D-motifs found in MKK7 are highly specific for JNKs, but have a relatively low binding affinity. It was suggested that the motifs of MKK7 can synergize with each other to provide an efficient substrate phosphorylation It has been shown that all three D-motifs are necessary for correct JNK1:MKK7 complex formations, and for the phosphorylation and activation of JNK1 by MKK7.

A special extension to the C-terminal kinase domain core, the so-called "Domain for Versatile Docking" (DVD) is a region found in MKK7 as in most known MAP2Ks,. The DVD region is a stable, mostly helical fold of roughly 20 amino acids, that adds onto the back side of the catalytic core of the MAP2K kinase domains. This domain extension is both required for the specific binding to, and activation of MKK7 by respective upstream MAPKKKs. Other mitogen activated protein kinase kinases also require the DVD region (in addition to various other non-canonical elements of their kinase domains, like the "MKK1/2-loop") to be able to discriminate against the various MAPKKK upstream. These special MAPKK:MAPKKK kinase-domain/kinase-domain interactions facilitate the phosphorylation of MKK7. In addition to the activation of MKK7, binding to the DVD region may also affect the MKK7 activation loop in such a way that the Ser and Thr of the S-K-A-K-T motif become accessible for phosphorylation.