PRC1

Protein Regulator of cytokinesis 1 (PRC1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PRC1 gene and is involved in cytokinesis.

Function

PRC1 protein is expressed at relatively high levels during S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle before dropping dramatically after mitotic exit and entrance into G1 phase. PRC1 is located in the nucleus during interphase, becomes associated with the mitotic spindle in a highly dynamic manner during anaphase, and localizes to the cell midbody during cytokinesis. PRC1 was first identified in 1998 using and ''in vitro'' phosphorylation screening method and shown to be a substrate of several cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Correspondingly, ablation of PRC1 has been shown to disrupt spindle midzone assembly in mammalian systems.

At least three alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms of PRC1 have been observed. Additionally, PRC1 has sequence homology with Ase1 in yeasts, SPD-1 (spindle defective 1) in C. elegans, Feo in D. melanogaster, and MAP65 in plants, all of which fall in a conserved family of nonmotor microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs).