194 words, limit = 250) The AMPK-related kinase NUAK2 has been implicated in melanoma growth and survival outcomes but its therapeutic utility has yet to be confirmed. In this study, we show how its genetic amplication in PTEN-deficient melanomas may rationalize the use of CDK2 inhibitors as a therapeutic strategy. Analysis of array-CGH data revealed that PTEN deficiency is coupled tightly with...

Cyclin E is a regulatory subunit of the cdc2-related protein kinase cdk2, which is activated shortly before S-phase entry, thus defining it as a G1 cyclin. We report here the existence of a 43 kDa splice variant of human cyclin E, termed cyclin Es, which lacks 49 amino acids within the cyclin box compared to the known 48 kDa cyclin E. Cyclin Es is expressed at approximately 1/10 of the level of...

Stimulatory and inhibitory signals regulate cell proliferation through the activity of specific enzymes that operate in distinct phases of the cell cycle. We have studied cell cycle progression, arrest, and withdrawal in the oligodendrocyte progenitor (OP) cell model system, focusing on the G(1) phase and G(1)-S transition. Not only were proliferating OPs found to display higher protein levels ...

Although RhoA plays an important role in cell proliferation and in Ras transformation in fibroblasts and mammary epithelial cells, its role in intestinal epithelial cells is unknown. In a previous study, we showed that polyamine depletion (DL-alpha-difluoromethylornithine, DFMO, treatment) strongly inhibits the proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6). In this report, we examined th...

Nek2 (NIMA-related kinase 2) is a cell cycle-dependent serine/threonine protein kinase that regulates centrosome separation at the onset of mitosis. Overexpression of Nek2 is common in human cancers and suppression can restrict tumor cell growth and promote apoptosis. Nek2 inhibition with small molecules, therefore, offers the prospect of a new therapy for cancer. To achieve this goal, a better...

Proliferation and apoptosis are increased in many types of inflammatory diseases. A role for the cyclin kinase inhibitor p27(Kip1) (p27) in limiting proliferation has been shown. In this study, we show that p27(-/-) mesangial cells and fibroblasts have strikingly elevated rates of apoptosis, not proliferation, when deprived of growth factors. Apoptosis was rescued by restoration of p27 expressi...

cAMP and cGMP are known to suppress vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. In this study, our aim was to delineate the molecular mechanism underlying cAMP and cGMP suppression of cell cycle transition in human SMCs. cAMP inhibits both platelet-derived growth factor-stimulated cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) 2 and cdk4 activation through upregulation of the cdk2 inhibitor p27(Kip1) and d...

CDK2 is a key regulator of cell cycle progression. In this study, we screened for miRNAs targeting CDK2 using a luciferase-3'-untranslated region reporter assay. Among 11 hit miRNAs, miR-509-3p reduced CDK2 protein levels and significantly inhibited cancer cell growth. Microarray, Western blotting, and luciferase reporter analyses revealed additional targets of miR-509-3p, including Rac1 and PI...

Critical cell cycle transitions are controlled by the coordinate actions of the p34cdc2 protein kinase and its regulatory subunits, cyclins. Recently we identified another human p34 homolog, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) by complementation of a cdc28-4 mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a lambda YES human cDNA expression library. CDK2 is 66% identical to CDC2Hs and 89% identical to t...

When cells progressing in mid-S phase are damaged with a base-modifying chemical, they arrest in S phase long after the CHK1 checkpoint signal fades out, partly because of p53-mediated long-lasting induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1). We have recently found that enforced expression of Cdc6, the assembler of prereplicative complexes, markedly advances recovery from ...