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Polo-like kinase (Plk1) Polo-like kinase (Plk1), is a serine/threonine kinase that is active during mitosis (Hamanaka et al., 1995). Its name is derived from its original characterisation as a homolog of a Drosophila mitotic kinase encoded by the Polo gene (Fenton et al., 1993; Martin et al., 2006). There are five Plk kinases identified in humans, although only Plk1 has been extensively characterised as a mitotic kinase (Martin et al., 2006; Lens …

By John Bannon PhD Early Cytokinesis Early cytokinesis; from anaphase to midbody formation cytokinesis is the physical separation of a dividing cell into two identical daughter cells [Eggert et al., 2006]. Cytokinesis begins following the separation of DNA during anaphase, and the consequent APC-mediated destruction of the Cdk1-cyclin B complex, which negatively regulates many proteins essential for cytokinesis …

Introduction Microtubules are key components of the cytoskeleton and are composed of alpha and beta tubulin. These dimerise in a head to tail fashion to form 13 linear protofilaments. The protofilaments associate initially into sheets and subsequently into hollow tubes with a diameter of roughly 25 nm. These hollow tubes radiate from the microtubule-organising centre (MTOC) located at the centrosome in interphase cells [Akhmanova and Steinmetz, 2008][ …

Introduction Cyclins are a family of proteins which are non-enzymatic, but bind to cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) as essential activating co-factors. This binding facilitates the docking of the CDK/cyclin complex to its substrates for phosphorylation by the active kinase.Cyclins were first identified by Timothy Hunt in 1982 in the cell cycle of the sea urchin and were subsequently found to be a general mechanism for the regulation of the cell cycle i …

Platinum based cancer drugs Despite nearly 50% of all anti-cancer treatments being platinum-based, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutics beyond those currently in use.1 The first platinum-based anti-cancer chemotherapeutic, cisplatin, was granted clinical approval in 1978. Only two further platinum drugs have gained full global approval namely carboplatin and oxaliplatin.2 Although hugely successful, the widespread application and efficacy of …