Plk1 - polo like kinase 1

The Ser/Thr protein kinase encoded by this gene belongs to the CDC5/Polo subfamily. It is highly expressed during mitosis and may play a role in DNA replication during S phase. This gene is expressed in all embryonic tissues, but restricted to thymus and ovaries in adult tissues. Homozygous knockout mice were embryonic lethal, suggesting that this gene is important for early embryonic development. This gene is thought to be a potential oncogene because it is overexpressed in a variety of tumors and tumor cell lines. Depletion of this protein in cancer cells has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation and suppress oncogenic transformation; hence, it is a target for cancer therapy. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2015]