Plk3 - polo like kinase 3

This gene encodes a member of the highly conserved polo-like kinase family of serine/threonine kinases. Members of this family are characterized by an amino-terminal catalytic domain and a carboxy-terminal bipartite polo box domain that functions as a substrate-binding motif and a cellular localization signal. Polo-like kinases have primarily been implicated in cell cycle regulation. In mouse, this protein that has been reported to localize to the nucleolus during interphase but is undetectable during mitosis, following nucleolus dissociation during prophase. The protein relocalizes to the nucleolus just prior to cytokinesis and peak levels are detected during G1 of interphase. This gene has been implicated in regulation of entry into S phase, with RNAi-induced depletion resulting in failure to re-enter the cell cycle. Mice deficient for this gene exhibit increased weight and tumor development at advanced age. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2015]