Overview:

Cell Division Control protein 1 (CDK1) is a highly conserved protein serine kinase. CDK1 is a catalytic subunit of the conserved eukaryotic protein kinase complex called that M-Phase Promoting Factor, which plays a key role in regulation of the cell cycle (1). CDK1 is essential for the completion of START, the controlling event in the cell cycle that is required to initiate mitosis. The ability of CDK1 to exercise control over the cell cycle is dependent upon the phosphorylation of Tyr15 in cdc2 (2). CDK1 expression in brain has been linked to neurogenesis and apoptosis (3,4). In addition, CDK1 is a potential pharmaceutical target for prostate cancer therapy (5).

References:

1. Maller, J.L.: Mitotic control. Curr Opin Cell Biol 1991 3:269-275.

2. Nakamizo, A. et al: Suppression of cdc2 dephosphorylation at the tyrosine 15 residue during nitrosourea-induced G2M phase arrest in glioblastoma cell lines. J Neurooncol 2002 59:7-13.

3. Konishi Y et al: The E2F-cdc2 cell-cycle pathway specifically mediates activity deprivation-induced apoptosis of postmitotic neurons. J Neurosci 2003 23:1649-1658.

4. Dranovsky, A. et al. cdc2 phosphorylation of nucleolin demarcates mitotic stages and Alzheimer's disease pathology. Neurobiol Aging 2001 22:517-528.

5. Rigas, A.C. et al: Therapeutic potential of CDK inhibitor NU2058 in androgen-independent prostate cancer. Oncogene 2007 Dec 6;26(55):7611-9.