CDK17/PCTAIRE2

CDK17, historically called PCTAIRE2 or PCK2, is a cyclin Y-dependent kinase closely related to CDK16 and expressed predominantly in brain and testis. Activation requires cyclin Y, whose palmitoylation targets the complex to membranes, and CDK17 has been detected at the Golgi and in vesicular fractions. Functional studies tie CDK17 to transcriptional regulation, to neuronal differentiation, and to proliferation of cancer cells, where elevated CDK17 correlates with poor outcome in some tumor types. Because CDK16, CDK17 and CDK18 share the PCTAIRE architecture, much of their individual biology remains to be separated with isoform-selective inhibitors and substrates.