BPB Reports

Paper Details

BPB Reports
Vol. 7 No. 5 p.170-177 2024
Regular Article
Phosphorylation Dynamics and Kinase Interaction in mRNA Transcription-Associated Kinases: Autophosphorylation of CDK12 and its Modulation by CDK7 and CDK9
  • Hiroshi Tauchi (Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University / hiroshi.tauchi.sci@vc.ibaraki.ac.jp)
  • Daisuke Morishita (Chordia Therapeutics Inc. / daisuke.morishita@chordiatherapeutics.com)
Hiroko Yamakawa 1) 2) , Shunsuke Ebara 1) 2) , Misaki Yoshida 2) , Koji Yamamoto 3) , Kozo Hayashi 4) , Kenichiro Shimokawa 2) , Shinsuke Araki 5) , Hiroshi Tauchi 1) , Daisuke Morishita 2)
1) Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University , 2) Chordia Therapeutics Inc. , 3) Metcoding , 4) Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners , 5) Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Received: August 20, 2024;   Accepted: August 29, 2024;   Released: October 18, 2024
Keywords: mRNA transcription, autophosphorylation, transcription-associated kinases, CDK7, CDK9, CDK12
Abstracts

Transcription of mRNA consists of three critical steps - initiation, elongation, and termination - and is driven by RNA polymerase II (Pol II), whose activity is regulated by a unique C-terminal domain (CTD). The transcription-related kinases CDK7, CDK9, and CDK12 regulate transcription by differentially phosphorylating serine 2, serine 5, and serine 7 of the Pol II CTD, although their functional interactions are not yet fully understood. Since these CDKs are involved in cancer cell proliferation and survival, elucidating these interactions is useful for cancer treatment. We focused on CDK12, which plays an important role in the late phase of transcription and identified several novel autophosphorylation sites of CDK12. Among these, serine 423 on CDK12 was found to be a critical residue affecting the half-life of the CDK12 protein and its phosphorylation is mediated by both CDK12 and CDK7. Additionally, comprehensive phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that CDK7 and CDK9 affect the phosphorylation of CDK12 and the CDK12 interactome, suggesting crosstalk between these kinases. Inhibition of CDK7 disrupted the interaction between CDK12 and proteins phosphorylated by CDK12, including RNA processing factors, while inhibition of CDK7 and CDK9 enhanced the interaction between CDK12 and splicing factors. In conclusion, our results indicate that CDK7 and CDK9 functionally regulate CDK12 upstream, suggesting that transcriptional CDKs cooperatively regulate RNA transcription and subsequent transcriptional processes.