Murine protein kinase CK2: Gene and oncogene

Protein kinase CK2 (casein kinase II) is a serine-threonine protein kinase with a wide range of substrates, many of which are involved in cell cycle r egulation. CK2 activity is elevated in a variety of human tumors and we hav e used a transgenic mouse model to demonstrate that dysregulated expression of CK2 can induce lymphoma. Thus, CK2 fulfills the definition of an oncoge ne: A mutated, dysregulated, or mis-expressed gene that contributes to canc er in a dominant fashion. CK2 cooperates in transforming cells with other l ymphoid oncogenes such as myc and tal-1, and here we show cooperativity wit h loss of the tumor suppressor gene p53. To understand more about the physi ological and pathological role of CK2, we are cloning the murine CK2 alpha' cDNA and gene. CK2 alpha' will be used to generate transgenic and knockout mice and the regulatory elements for gene expression will be analyzed.