OLIGOMERIZATION STATE IN SOLUTION OF THE CELL-CYCLE REGULATORS P13(SUCL) FROM THE FISSION YEAST AND P9(CKSPHY) FROM THE MYXOMYCETE PHYSARUM, 2 MEMBERS OF THE CKS FAMILY
C. Birck et al., OLIGOMERIZATION STATE IN SOLUTION OF THE CELL-CYCLE REGULATORS P13(SUCL) FROM THE FISSION YEAST AND P9(CKSPHY) FROM THE MYXOMYCETE PHYSARUM, 2 MEMBERS OF THE CKS FAMILY, FEBS letters, 363(1-2), 1995, pp. 145-150
The cks proteins (for cdc2 kinase subunit) are essential cell cycle re
gulators, They interact strongly with the mitotic cdc2 kinase, but the
mechanism and the biological function of this association still await
understanding, The oligomerization state in solution of two members o
f this ubiquitous protein family, the suc1 gene product from the fissi
on yeast and the newly cloned cksphy gene product from the myxomycete
Physarum, was investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and
biochemical methods, We found that the major molecular species are mon
odispersed monomeric proteins. Minor amounts of dimeric suc1 proteins
were also found, but no equilibrium between the two forms was observed
and surprisingly, the hexameric assemblies observed in the crystal st
ructure of the human ckshs2 homolog were not detected, These apparent
discrepancies between proteins that display cross-complementation addr
ess the question of the control of the cks oligomerization process and
its link to the biological function.