| 2006 |
PNQALRE/CCRK/CDK20 has no intrinsic CDK-activating kinase (CAK) activity as a monomer; it does not phosphorylate Cdk2 T-loop in vitro or in vivo, and its depletion by RNAi does not reduce Cdk2 T-loop phosphorylation or CAK activity of cell extracts. Instead, CDK7 is confirmed as the sole mammalian CAK. CDK20 knockdown impairs cell proliferation and increases apoptosis (sub-G1 DNA content, PARP cleavage) without discrete cell-cycle arrest. |
RNAi knockdown, in vitro CAK assay, in vivo T-loop phosphorylation measurement, PARP cleavage assay, flow cytometry |
Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) |
High |
16552187
|
| 2013 |
CCRK/CDK20 and its substrate ICK inhibit ciliogenesis; CCRK depletion causes accumulation of ICK at ciliary tips, altered intraflagellar transport (IFT), and inhibition of cell cycle re-entry. In glioblastoma cells with high CCRK, its depletion restores primary cilia through ICK and the ICK-related kinase MAK, thereby inhibiting glioblastoma cell proliferation. |
RNAi knockdown, immunofluorescence, live-cell imaging of ciliary tip ICK accumulation, cell proliferation assays in NIH3T3 and glioblastoma cells |
EMBO reports |
High |
23743448
|
| 2017 |
CCRK/CDK20 activates NF-κB via EZH2 and facilitates NF-κB–EZH2 co-binding to the IL-6 promoter, driving immunosuppressive MDSC expansion in hepatocellular carcinoma. This CCRK→EZH2/NF-κB→IL-6 cascade promotes T-cell suppression. |
CRISPR/Cas9 Ccrk depletion, liver-specific transgenic mice, ChIP showing NF-κB–EZH2 co-occupancy at IL-6 promoter, flow cytometry, co-culture immunosuppression assays, IL-6 trap rescue |
Gut |
High |
28939663
|
| 2017 |
CDK20/CCRK binds directly to the ubiquitin ligase adaptor KEAP1 via an evolutionarily conserved ETGE motif on CDK20, competing with NRF2 for KEAP1 binding. This competition enhances NRF2 transcriptional activity, lowers cellular ROS, and confers radiochemoresistance in lung cancer cells. |
Tandem affinity purification, co-immunoprecipitation, ETGE-motif competition binding assays, CDK20 knockdown with NRF2 reporter assays, ROS measurement, clonogenic survival assays |
Oncogene |
High |
28534518
|
| 2017 |
CCRK/CDK20 is required for proper Hedgehog (Hh) pathway signaling in mice; Ccrk mutant cells show defective ciliary length regulation, impaired intraflagellar transport, and slowed ciliary enrichment of Smoothened and Gli2. Genetic analyses place CCRK at the level of or downstream of Smoothened and upstream of Gli2/Gli3. |
Mouse knockout/mutant genetics, epistasis analyses, immunofluorescence of ciliary protein localization, IFT velocity measurements, in vitro Hh signaling assays |
PLoS genetics |
High |
28817564
|
| 2018 |
CCRK/CDK20 drives a feedforward signaling loop: it induces STAT3–AR promoter co-occupancy to transcriptionally upregulate AR, which in turn activates mTORC1/4E-BP1/S6K/SREBP1 cascades via GSK3β phosphorylation. Additionally, CCRK activates mTORC1-dependent G-csf expression to recruit immunosuppressive PMN-MDSCs. |
Lentiviral Ccrk ablation in diet-induced obese mice, transgenic hepatic CCRK induction, ChIP for STAT3–AR co-occupancy, phosphorylation assays for GSK3β and mTORC1 substrates, cytokine measurement |
Nature communications |
High |
30523261
|
| 2019 |
In C. elegans, DYF-18/CCRK and DYF-5/MAK act in a kinase cascade to control cilia branching and length; loss of dyf-18 leads to elongated, unbranched cilia with increased tubulin load, reduced tubulin turnover, and EBP-2 decoration of axonemal microtubules along their lengths. Microtubule-destabilizing tubulin mutations and IFT tubulin-transport mutations suppress cilia elongation in dyf-18 mutants, placing CCRK upstream of MAK and upstream of axonemal microtubule stability. |
C. elegans genetics (dyf-18 null mutants), epistasis with tubulin and IFT mutants, live-cell IFT motor imaging, EBP-2 dynamics (FRAP/live imaging), fluorescence intensity measurements of tubulin load |
Current biology : CB |
High |
30955935
|
| 2010 |
CCRK/CDK20 is required for phosphorylation of CDK2 on Thr-160 and Rb on Ser-795 and for expression of cyclin E in colorectal cancer cells; its knockdown causes G1 phase arrest and reduced proliferation. |
siRNA and shRNA knockdown, Western blotting for CDK2-pThr160 and Rb-pSer795, flow cytometry cell cycle analysis, cell proliferation assays in LoVo and DLD1 cells |
European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990) |
Medium |
20466538
|
| 2021 |
CCRK/CDK20 interacts with BROMI/TBC1D32 and this interaction is required for regulating IFT turnaround at the ciliary tip; CCRK-KO cells show overaccumulation of IFT proteins at bulged ciliary tips, GPR161 and Smoothened enrichment on the ciliary membrane, and elimination of tip material as extracellular vesicles. Rescue requires both kinase activity and BROMI-binding competence of CCRK, and phenotypes resemble ICK-KO, placing CCRK upstream of ICK. |
CCRK-knockout cell generation, exogenous rescue with wild-type vs. kinase-dead and BROMI-binding mutants, immunofluorescence of IFT proteins and ciliary membrane receptors, extracellular vesicle analysis |
PloS one |
High |
34624068
|
| 2022 |
CCRK/CDK20 interacts with BROMI/TBC1D32, FAM149B1/JBTS36, and CFAP20 to regulate IFT turnaround at the ciliary tip. BROMI mutants defective in CCRK binding cannot rescue BROMI-KO ciliary defects; CCRK-KO, BROMI-KO, and FAM149B1-KO cells show identical phenotypes including cilia elongation and IFT/ICK tip accumulation, indicating these proteins function together upstream of ICK. |
Co-immunoprecipitation (CCRK–BROMI, CCRK–FAM149B1, BROMI–FAM149B1, BROMI–CFAP20), KO cell generation, rescue with BROMI binding mutants, immunofluorescence |
Molecular biology of the cell |
High |
35609210
|
| 2024 |
CCRK kinase is an upstream activator of both MAK and ICK in retinal photoreceptor cells; the CCRK–MAK/ICK axis constitutes an IFT regulator essential for photoreceptor ciliary axoneme maintenance and retinal survival. |
Mouse Ccrk conditional knockout, retinal degeneration phenotyping, genetic epistasis with Mak and Ick mutants, IFT protein localization by immunofluorescence |
Life science alliance |
Medium |
39293864
|
| 2025 |
CDK20/LF2 phosphorylates the activation loop of CDKL5 (Chlamydomonas LF5), activating it; this phosphorylation controls CDKL5 ciliary localization, downregulates its IFT-mediated transport as flagella reach steady state, and influences flagellar length. Mouse Cdk20 is required for proper Cdkl5 localization within cilia, and Cdkl5 loss elongates cilia in a CDK20-dependent manner. |
Live-cell imaging, immunofluorescence, biochemical assays, mass spectrometry phosphorylation mapping, Chlamydomonas and mouse Cdk20-KO genetic analysis, reconstitution of kinase activation |
PLoS biology |
High |
41385589
|
| 2025 |
CCRK/CDK20 interacts with KU70, modulates its protein stability, and thereby enhances non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair activity downstream of the AR–CCRK axis in breast cancer cells. |
Co-immunoprecipitation (CCRK–KU70), EJ5-GFP NHEJ reporter assay, CCRK knockdown/overexpression, ARE-luciferase AR activity assay, cell viability and comet assays |
Cells |
Medium |
40940753
|
| 2011 |
In C. elegans, the CDK/CCRK/LF2p-related kinase DYF-18 is required for proper intraflagellar transport function and ciliogenesis; dyf-18 mutants display dye-filling defects indicative of IFT disruption in ciliated sensory neurons. |
C. elegans mutant analysis (dye-filling assay), transcriptional GFP reporters for expression in ciliated sensory neurons, genetic epistasis with DAF-19 RFX targets |
Developmental biology |
Medium |
21740898
|