Never In Mitosis Gene A Related Kinase 2 (NEK2)

NEK2 has an N-terminal catalytic domain and a very basic C-terminal region. Overall, NEK2 shares 36 to 38% sequence identity with nimA, Nek1, and human NEK3. Using Western blots of extracts of synchronized HeLa cells, the authors found that NEK2 protein was almost undetectable during G1, but accumulated progressively throughout S phase, reaching maximal levels in late G2.

NEK2B encodes a deduced 384-amino acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 44.9 kD. It diverges from the longer isoform, NEK2A, following amino acid 370 and lacks a number of important regulatory motifs in the extreme C terminus of NEK2A. The 2 isoforms exhibited distinct patterns of cell cycle-dependent expression in U2OS cells.