Polo-like kinase 1 reaches beyond mitosis--cytokinesis, DNA damage response, and development.
Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is a key regulator of cell division in eukaryotic cells. In this review we focus on recent leaps in our understanding of how Plk1 controls cytokinesis, the final stage of cell division. Furthermore, we will go beyond mitosis to highlight unexpected roles of Plk1 during interphase and during animal development. In vertebrate cells, Plk1 has emerged as a novel player in maintaining genomic stability during DNA replication and as an important modulator of the DNA damage checkpoint. Plk1 functions extend past the 'core' cell cycle. Plk1 acts as a link between developmental processes and the cell cycle machinery during asymmetric cell divisions in flies and worms. The term 'mitotic kinase' might not do justice to Plk1 in the light of these recent results.
Takaki
Tohru
T
Cell Division and Aneuploidy Laboratory, Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, Clare Hall Laboratories, South Mimms, Hertfordshire EN6 3LD, United Kingdom.
Trenz
Kristina
K
Costanzo
Vincenzo
V
Petronczki
Mark
M
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D002453:Cell Cycle; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division; D048749:Cytokinesis / Q000502:physiology*; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000502:physiology*; D004261:DNA Replication; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D047108:Embryonic Development; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D000097869:Polo-Like Kinase 1
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000097869:Polo-Like Kinase 1