Wee1 Like Protein Kinase 2 (WEE2)

WEE2 is a newly identified member of the WEE kinase family that is conserved from yeast to humans.Among 11 macaque tissues examined, WEE2 transcript is predominantly expressed in the ovary, only weakly detectable in the testis. Within the ovary, WEE2 mRNA is exclusively localized in the oocyte and appears to accumulate during folliculogenesis, reaching the highest level in preovulatory follicles. Microinjeciton of a full-length WEE2-GFP (green fluorescent protein) fusion mRNA indicates a specific nuclear localization of WEE2 protein in both growing and fully-grown germinal vesicle (GV)-intact oocytes. Overexpression of WEE2 delays the reentry of oocytes into meiosis in both mice and monkeys. WEE2 is a conserved oocyte-specific meiosis inhibitor that functions downstream of cyclic Adenosine MonoPhosphate (cAMP) in nonhuman primates.