Phosphorylation of elongation factor-2 (eEF-2) by the highly specific eEF-2 kinase results in eEF-2 inactivation and, therefore, may regulate the global rate of protein synthesis in animal cells. Cloning and sequencing of eEF-2 kinase led to the discovery of a new family of protein kinases, named alpha-kinases, whose catalytic domains display no sequence homology to conventional eukaryotic protein kinases. Several mammalian alpha-kinases have recently been cloned. Two of these alpha-kinases, named channel-kinases 1 and 2 (ChaK1 and ChaK2) represent a new type of signaling molecules that are protein kinases fused to ion channels.