Wee1 Like Protein Kinase (WEE1)

WEE1 is a tyrosine kinase belonging to the Ser/Thr family of protein kinases. This protein catalyzes the inhibitory tyrosine phosphorylation of CDC2/cyclin B kinase, and appears to coordinate the transition between DNA replication and mitosis by protecting the nucleus from cytoplasmically activated CDC2 kinase.The human WEE1 gene is expressed as a 3-kb mRNA that encodes a predicted 432-amino acid protein. Human WEE1 has 29% amino acid identity to S. pombe wee1 protein in the central serine/threonine kinase domain.The human WEE1 tyrosine kinase appears to coordinate the transition between DNA replication and mitosis by protecting the nucleus from cytoplasmically activated CDC2 kinase. The kinase domain of human WEE1 was sufficient to complement the fission yeast wee1 mutation.