| Structural highlights
Function
CDK2_HUMAN Serine/threonine-protein kinase involved in the control of the cell cycle; essential for meiosis, but dispensable for mitosis. Phosphorylates CTNNB1, USP37, p53/TP53, NPM1, CDK7, RB1, BRCA2, MYC, NPAT, EZH2. Interacts with cyclins A, B1, B3, D, or E. Triggers duplication of centrosomes and DNA. Acts at the G1-S transition to promote the E2F transcriptional program and the initiation of DNA synthesis, and modulates G2 progression; controls the timing of entry into mitosis/meiosis by controlling the subsequent activation of cyclin B/CDK1 by phosphorylation, and coordinates the activation of cyclin B/CDK1 at the centrosome and in the nucleus. Crucial role in orchestrating a fine balance between cellular proliferation, cell death, and DNA repair in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Activity of CDK2 is maximal during S phase and G2; activated by interaction with cyclin E during the early stages of DNA synthesis to permit G1-S transition, and subsequently activated by cyclin A2 (cyclin A1 in germ cells) during the late stages of DNA replication to drive the transition from S phase to mitosis, the G2 phase. EZH2 phosphorylation promotes H3K27me3 maintenance and epigenetic gene silencing. Phosphorylates CABLES1 (By similarity). Cyclin E/CDK2 prevents oxidative stress-mediated Ras-induced senescence by phosphorylating MYC. Involved in G1-S phase DNA damage checkpoint that prevents cells with damaged DNA from initiating mitosis; regulates homologous recombination-dependent repair by phosphorylating BRCA2, this phosphorylation is low in S phase when recombination is active, but increases as cells progress towards mitosis. In response to DNA damage, double-strand break repair by homologous recombination a reduction of CDK2-mediated BRCA2 phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of RB1 disturbs its interaction with E2F1. NPM1 phosphorylation by cyclin E/CDK2 promotes its dissociates from unduplicated centrosomes, thus initiating centrosome duplication. Cyclin E/CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of NPAT at G1-S transition and until prophase stimulates the NPAT-mediated activation of histone gene transcription during S phase. Required for vitamin D-mediated growth inhibition by being itself inactivated. Involved in the nitric oxide- (NO) mediated signaling in a nitrosylation/activation-dependent manner. USP37 is activated by phosphorylation and thus triggers G1-S transition. CTNNB1 phosphorylation regulates insulin internalization.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Sites of protein-protein interaction (PPI) are potentially more selective binding sites for therapeutics than protein substrate-binding sites. PPIs include distinct regions frequently called "hotspots," sites of key amino acid interactions. Prospective identification of these hotspots through X-ray crystallographic screening could assist in the identification of separation of function mutants for experimental validation, enhance confidence in AI-generated multiprotein complex predictions, and accelerate development of selective chemical probes. To explore these applications, we utilize the FragLite library to examine the binding surfaces of CDK2-cyclin A. The many protein- and peptide-CDK2-cyclin A complexes that have been structurally characterized make this complex an appropriate test case. We show that FragLites comprehensively map both known sites of protein-protein interaction on CDK2-cyclin A and identify a possible uncharacterized site, providing a structural method toward directing mechanistic studies and starting points for chemical probe design.
Crystallographic fragment screening of CDK2-cyclin A: FragLites map sites of protein-protein interaction.,Hope I, Martin MP, Jiang Z, Waring MJ, Noble MEM, Endicott JA, Tatum NJ Structure. 2025 Aug 5:S0969-2126(25)00265-5. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2025.07.016. PMID:40816275[18]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
References
- ↑ Harbour JW, Luo RX, Dei Santi A, Postigo AA, Dean DC. Cdk phosphorylation triggers sequential intramolecular interactions that progressively block Rb functions as cells move through G1. Cell. 1999 Sep 17;98(6):859-69. PMID:10499802
- ↑ Okuda M, Horn HF, Tarapore P, Tokuyama Y, Smulian AG, Chan PK, Knudsen ES, Hofmann IA, Snyder JD, Bove KE, Fukasawa K. Nucleophosmin/B23 is a target of CDK2/cyclin E in centrosome duplication. Cell. 2000 Sep 29;103(1):127-40. PMID:11051553
- ↑ Zhao J, Kennedy BK, Lawrence BD, Barbie DA, Matera AG, Fletcher JA, Harlow E. NPAT links cyclin E-Cdk2 to the regulation of replication-dependent histone gene transcription. Genes Dev. 2000 Sep 15;14(18):2283-97. PMID:10995386
- ↑ Ma T, Van Tine BA, Wei Y, Garrett MD, Nelson D, Adams PD, Wang J, Qin J, Chow LT, Harper JW. Cell cycle-regulated phosphorylation of p220(NPAT) by cyclin E/Cdk2 in Cajal bodies promotes histone gene transcription. Genes Dev. 2000 Sep 15;14(18):2298-313. PMID:10995387
- ↑ Luciani MG, Hutchins JR, Zheleva D, Hupp TR. The C-terminal regulatory domain of p53 contains a functional docking site for cyclin A. J Mol Biol. 2000 Jul 14;300(3):503-18. PMID:10884347 doi:10.1006/jmbi.2000.3830
- ↑ Garrett S, Barton WA, Knights R, Jin P, Morgan DO, Fisher RP. Reciprocal activation by cyclin-dependent kinases 2 and 7 is directed by substrate specificity determinants outside the T loop. Mol Cell Biol. 2001 Jan;21(1):88-99. PMID:11113184 doi:10.1128/MCB.21.1.88-99.2001
- ↑ Esashi F, Christ N, Gannon J, Liu Y, Hunt T, Jasin M, West SC. CDK-dependent phosphorylation of BRCA2 as a regulatory mechanism for recombinational repair. Nature. 2005 Mar 31;434(7033):598-604. PMID:15800615 doi:10.1038/nature03404
- ↑ De Boer L, Oakes V, Beamish H, Giles N, Stevens F, Somodevilla-Torres M, Desouza C, Gabrielli B. Cyclin A/cdk2 coordinates centrosomal and nuclear mitotic events. Oncogene. 2008 Jul 17;27(31):4261-8. doi: 10.1038/onc.2008.74. Epub 2008 Mar 31. PMID:18372919 doi:10.1038/onc.2008.74
- ↑ Flores O, Wang Z, Knudsen KE, Burnstein KL. Nuclear targeting of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 reveals essential roles of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 localization and cyclin E in vitamin D-mediated growth inhibition. Endocrinology. 2010 Mar;151(3):896-908. doi: 10.1210/en.2009-1116. Epub 2010 Feb , 10. PMID:20147522 doi:10.1210/en.2009-1116
- ↑ Kumar S, Barthwal MK, Dikshit M. Cdk2 nitrosylation and loss of mitochondrial potential mediate NO-dependent biphasic effect on HL-60 cell cycle. Free Radic Biol Med. 2010 Mar 15;48(6):851-61. doi:, 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2010.01.004. Epub 2010 Jan 15. PMID:20079829 doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2010.01.004
- ↑ Chen S, Bohrer LR, Rai AN, Pan Y, Gan L, Zhou X, Bagchi A, Simon JA, Huang H. Cyclin-dependent kinases regulate epigenetic gene silencing through phosphorylation of EZH2. Nat Cell Biol. 2010 Nov;12(11):1108-14. doi: 10.1038/ncb2116. Epub 2010 Oct 10. PMID:20935635 doi:10.1038/ncb2116
- ↑ Chung JH, Bunz F. Cdk2 is required for p53-independent G2/M checkpoint control. PLoS Genet. 2010 Feb 26;6(2):e1000863. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000863. PMID:20195506 doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000863
- ↑ Hydbring P, Bahram F, Su Y, Tronnersjo S, Hogstrand K, von der Lehr N, Sharifi HR, Lilischkis R, Hein N, Wu S, Vervoorts J, Henriksson M, Grandien A, Luscher B, Larsson LG. Phosphorylation by Cdk2 is required for Myc to repress Ras-induced senescence in cotransformation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 5;107(1):58-63. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0900121106. , Epub 2009 Dec 4. PMID:19966300 doi:10.1073/pnas.0900121106
- ↑ Fiset A, Xu E, Bergeron S, Marette A, Pelletier G, Siminovitch KA, Olivier M, Beauchemin N, Faure RL. Compartmentalized CDK2 is connected with SHP-1 and beta-catenin and regulates insulin internalization. Cell Signal. 2011 May;23(5):911-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2011.01.019. Epub 2011 , Jan 22. PMID:21262353 doi:10.1016/j.cellsig.2011.01.019
- ↑ Huang X, Summers MK, Pham V, Lill JR, Liu J, Lee G, Kirkpatrick DS, Jackson PK, Fang G, Dixit VM. Deubiquitinase USP37 is activated by CDK2 to antagonize APC(CDH1) and promote S phase entry. Mol Cell. 2011 May 20;42(4):511-23. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2011.03.027. PMID:21596315 doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2011.03.027
- ↑ Neganova I, Vilella F, Atkinson SP, Lloret M, Passos JF, von Zglinicki T, O'Connor JE, Burks D, Jones R, Armstrong L, Lako M. An important role for CDK2 in G1 to S checkpoint activation and DNA damage response in human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells. 2011 Apr;29(4):651-9. doi: 10.1002/stem.620. PMID:21319273 doi:10.1002/stem.620
- ↑ Brown NR, Lowe ED, Petri E, Skamnaki V, Antrobus R, Johnson LN. Cyclin B and cyclin A confer different substrate recognition properties on CDK2. Cell Cycle. 2007 Jun 1;6(11):1350-9. Epub 2007 Jun 11. PMID:17495531
- ↑ Hope I, Martin MP, Jiang Z, Waring MJ, Noble MEM, Endicott JA, Tatum NJ. Crystallographic fragment screening of CDK2-cyclin A: FragLites map sites of protein-protein interaction. Structure. 2025 Aug 5:S0969-2126(25)00265-5. PMID:40816275 doi:10.1016/j.str.2025.07.016
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