Are casein kinases the assistant coaches for DNA metabolism?
A cell can be thought of as a well-coached sports team. To win, it needs superstar players with specialized tasks, but it also needs team players who can be relied on to maintain constant performance. Growth factor receptors or transcriptional activators might be considered to be the cell's superstars, whereas ribosomes could be considered team players that faithfully carry out directions from mRNA. The team also needs a head coach for overall direction and assistant coaches to direct the basic skills. The assistant coaches should ensure that basic cellular functions proceed correctly and that the cell responds to specific stimuli. Since almost every phosphorylatable protein is modified by several protein kinases, protein kinases like casein kinases I and II might be the assistant coaches of cellular regulation.
Hoekstra
M F
MF
Molecular Biology and Virology Lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.