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RPK1, an essential yeast protein kinase involved in the regulation of the onset of mitosis, shows homology to mammalian dual-specificity kinases

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Abstract

We report here the sequence of RPK1 (for Regulatory cell Proliferation Kinase), a new Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene coding for a protein with sequence similarities to serine/threonine protein kinases. The protein sequence of 764 amino acids includes an amino-terminal domain (residues 1–410), which may be involved in regulation of the kinase domain (residues 411–764). The catalytic domain of Rpkl is not closely related to other known yeast protein kinases but exhibits strong homology to a newly discovered group of mammalian kinases (PYT, TTK, esk) with serine/threonine/tyrosine kinase activity. Null alleles of RPK1 are lethal and thus this gene belongs to the small group of yeast protein kinase genes that are essential for cell growth. In addition, eliminating the expression of RPK1 gives rise to the accumulation of non-viable cells with less than a 1 N DNA content suggesting that cells proceed into mitosis without completion of DNA synthesis. Therefore, the Rpkt kinase may function in a checkpoint control which couples DNA replication to mitosis. The level of the RPK1 transcript is extremely low and constant throughout the mitotic cycle. However it is regulated during cellular differentiation, being decreased in α-factor-treated a cells and increased late in meiosis in a/α diploids. Taken together, our results suggest that Rpk1 is involved in a pathway that coordinates cell proliferation and differentiation.

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  1. Etienne Schwob

    Present address: Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Biologic Moléculaire et Cellulaire du C.N.R.S. and Université Louis Pasteur, UPR 9005, “Mécanismes Moléculaires de la Division Cellulaire et du Développement“, 15 rue René Descartes, F-67084, Strasbourg, France

    Olivier Poch, Etienne Schwob, Florence de Fraipont, Alain Camasses, Rémy Bordonné & Robert P. Martin

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  1. Olivier Poch
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Communicated by C. P. Hollenberg

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Poch, O., Schwob, E., de Fraipont, F. et al. RPK1, an essential yeast protein kinase involved in the regulation of the onset of mitosis, shows homology to mammalian dual-specificity kinases. Molec. Gen. Genet. 243, 641–653 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279573

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