Kinase Subfamily CDC15

Kinase Classification: Group STE: Family STE11: Kinase Subfamily CDC15

CDC15 is a subfamily of STE11 kinase which is found in fungi and basal eukaryotes, but absent from animals and choanoflagellates.

In yeast, it is a key part of the mitotic exit network (MEN), where it partners with CDC5 (a PLK kinase) to activate the CDC14 phosphatase which in turn inactivates CDKs. A MEN is also seen in animals, where the role of CDC15 might be replaced by MST kinases (MST2 in human, Hippo in Drosophila), which belong to the adjacent STE20 kinase family. Both CDC15 and Hippo are known to activate Dbf2/Mob1 (yeast) or the homologous LATS1/MOB1A (Human) or LATS/MATS (Drosophila). While MST kinases are present in most eukaryotes, though lost in yeast, their link to CDC15 is supported by the sequence similarity between both subfamilies - substantially greater than typical members of the STE11 and STE20 families.

References

Gerard 18:13, 22 July 2010 (PDT)