SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASES (SERKs) and NUCLEAR SHUTTLE PROTEIN-INTERACTING KINASES (NIKs) belong to superfamily II of leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases, which share cytosolic kinase conservation and a similar ectodomain configuration. SERKs have been extensively demonstrated to function as coreceptors of receptor-like kinases, which sense biotic or developmental signals to initiate specific responses. NIKs, on the other hand, have emerged as downstream components in signaling cascades, not functioning as coreceptors but rather serving as hubs that converge information from both biotic and abiotic signals, resulting in a unified response. Like SERKs, NIKs play a crucial role as information spreaders in plant cells, forming hubs of high centrality. However, unlike SERKs, which function as coreceptors and assemble paired receptor-specific responses, NIKs employ a shared signaling circuit to transduce diverse biotic and abiotic signals into the same physiological response. Therefore, this review highlights the concept of signaling hubs that differ from coreceptors in signaling pathways.

体细胞胚胎发生受体样激酶 (SERK) 和核穿梭蛋白相互作用激酶 (NIK) 属于富含亮氨酸的重复受体样激酶超家族 II，它们具有胞质激酶保守性和相似的胞外域配置。SERK 已被广泛证明可以作为受体样激酶的辅助受体发挥作用，其感知生物或发育信号以启动特定反应。另一方面，NIK 已成为信号级联中的下游组件，不充当辅助受体，而是充当汇聚来自生物和非生物信号的信息的中枢，从而产生统一的响应。与 SERK 一样，NIK 作为植物细胞中的信息传播者发挥着至关重要的作用，形成高度中心性的枢纽。然而，与 SERK 不同的是，SERK 充当辅助受体并组装成对的受体特异性反应，NIK 采用共享的信号通路将不同的生物和非生物信号转导为相同的生理反应。因此，本综述强调了信号中枢与信号通路中的辅助受体不同的概念。