Polo kinase

In enzymology, a polo kinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * ATP + a protein $$\rightleftharpoons$$ ADP + a phosphoprotein

Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are ATP and protein, whereas its two products are ADP and phosphoprotein.

This enzyme belongs to the family of transferases, specifically those transferring a phosphate group to the sidechain oxygen atom of serine or threonine residues in proteins (protein-serine/threonine kinases). The systematic name of this enzyme class is ATP:protein phosphotransferase (spindle-pole-dependent). Other names in common use include Cdc5, Cdc5p, Plk, PLK, Plk1, Plo1, POLO kinase, polo serine-threonine kinase, polo-like kinase, polo-like kinase 1, serine/threonine-specific Drosophila kinase polo, and STK21. This enzyme participates in 3 metabolic pathways: cell cycle, cell cycle - yeast, and progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, 5 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , , , and.