Cyclin Dependent Kinases Regulatory Subunit 2 (CKS2)

CKS2 protein binds to the catalytic subunit of the cyclin dependent kinases and is essential for their biological function. The CKS2 mRNA is found to be expressed in different patterns through the cell cycle in HeLa cells, which reflects specialized role for the encoded protein.Designated CKS1 and CKS2, both encode proteins of 79 amino acids that share considerable homology at the amino acid level with the products of the corresponding gene in S. cerevisiae and another gene in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Both human homologs were capable of rescuing a null mutation of the S. cerevisiae Cks1 gene when expressed from the S. cerevisiae GAL1 promoter. Linked to Sepharose beads, the CKS1 and CKS2 proteins could bind the CDC28/CDC2 protein kinase from both S. cerevisiae and human cells (CDC2).