NEK8
Encyclopedia
Serine/threonine-protein kinase Nek8, also known as never in mitosis A-related kinase 8, is an enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 that in humans is encoded by the NEK8 gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

.

Function

Nek8 is a member of the serine/threonine-specific protein kinase
Serine/threonine-specific protein kinase
Serine/threonine protein kinases phosphorylate the OH group of serine or threonine .At least 125 of the 500+ human protein kinases are serine/threonine kinases .-Regulation:...

 family related to NIMA (never in mitosis, gene A) of Aspergillus nidulans
Aspergillus nidulans
Aspergillus nidulans is one of many species of filamentous fungi in the phylum Ascomycota...

. The encoded protein may play a role in cell cycle
Cell cycle
The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that takes place in a cell leading to its division and duplication . In cells without a nucleus , the cell cycle occurs via a process termed binary fission...

 progression from G2
G2 phase
G2 phase is the 3rd and final subphase of Interphase in the cell cycle directly preceding Mitosis. It follows the successful completion of S phase, during which the cell’s DNA is replicated...

 to M phase
Mitosis
Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...

.
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