The kic1 kinase of schizosaccharomyces pombe is a CLK/STY orthologue that regulates cell-cell separation.

The CLK/STY kinases are a family of dual-specificity protein kinases implicated in the regulation of cellular growth and differentiation. Some of the kinases in the family are shown to phosphorylate serine-arginine-rich splicing factors and to regulate pre-mRNA splicing. However, the actual cellular mechanism that regulates cell growth, differentiation, and development ...
by CLK/STY remains unclear. Here we show that a functionally conserved CLK/STY kinase exists in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and this orthologue, called Kic1, regulates the cell surface and septum formation as well as a late step in cytokinesis. The Kic1 protein is modified in vivo, likely by phosphorylation, suggesting that it can be involved in a control cascade. In addition, kic1(+) together with dsk1(+), which encodes a related SR-specific protein kinase, constitutes a critical in vivo function for cell growth. The results provide the first in vivo evidence for the functional conservation of the CLK/STY family through evolution from fission yeast to mammals. Furthermore, since cell division and cell-cell interaction are fundamental for the differentiation and development of an organism, the novel cellular role of kic1(+) revealed from this study offers a clue to the understanding of its counterparts in higher eukaryotes.
Mesh Terms:
Animals, Calcium-Binding Proteins, Cell Communication, Cell Differentiation, Cell Division, Cell Polarity, Cells, Cultured, Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone, Evolution, Molecular, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal, Humans, Microscopy, Electron, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Phenotype, Phylogeny, Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases, Protein-Tyrosine Kinases, RNA Splicing, Schizosaccharomyces, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid, Transcription Factor TFIID
Exp. Cell Res.
Date: Feb. 01, 2003
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