title: Molecular cloning and characterization of a conserved nuclear serine(threonine) protein kinase.
abstract: Human, Drosophila melanogaster, and Caenorhabditis elegans cDNA clones encoding homologues of a serine(threonine) protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37) (designated Ndr protein kinase) have been isolated and sequenced. The human and Drosophila cDNAs predict polypeptides of 54 kDa and 52 kDa, respectively, which share approximately 80% amino acid similarity. Northern analysis of human tissues revealed a ubiquitously expressed 3.9-kb transcript. Recombinant GST-Ndr underwent intramolecular autophosphorylation on serine and threonine residues in vitro but failed to transphosphorylate several standard protein kinase substrates. Transfection of the human cDNA into COS-1 cells resulted in the appearance of an intense nuclear staining in cells analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence; deletion mutagenesis identified a short basic peptide, KRKAETWKRNRR, responsible for the nuclear accumulation of Ndr. Thus, Ndr is a conserved and widely expressed nuclear protein kinase. The closest known relative of this previously uncharacterized kinase is Dbf2, a budding yeast protein kinase required for the completion of nuclear division.
authors.affiliation: Friedrich Miescher-Institut, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Millward
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cron
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Hemmings
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000201:enzymology; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000201:enzymology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases