Cyclin E1 is a member of the highly conserved cyclin family and belongs to the E-type cyclin that functions as a regulator of S phase entry and progression in mammalian cells. Cyclin E1 serves as regulatory subunits that bind, activate, and provide substrate for its associated cyclin-dependent kinase2 (CDK2), whose activity is essential for cell cycle G1 / S transition. Over expression of this encoding gene has been found in many tumors, which results in chromosome instability and by extension, induce tumorigenesis. This protein was also found to associate with, and be involved in, the phosphorylation of NPAT protein (nuclear protein mapped to the ATM locus), which participates in cell-cycle regulated histone gene expression and plays a critical role in promoting cell-cycle progression in the absence of pRB. In general, cyclin E1, as an activator of phospho-CDK2 (pCDK2), is important for cell cycle progression and is frequently overexpressed in cancer cells.

cyclin E1