Cell cycle-dependent gene networks for cell proliferation activated by nuclear CK2 complexes

Protein kinase CK2 is a conserved serine/threonine kinase that participates in various cellular processes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing profiling demonstrated recruitment of CK2alpha to the active gene locus, more abundantly in late G1 phase than in early G1. Notably, we confirmed the presence of CK2alpha at transcriptional start sites of core histone genes, growth stimulus-associated genes, and ribosomal RNAs. This study suggests that nuclear CK2alpha complexes, uniquely constituted during cell cycle progression, are essential for cell proliferation, by activating histone genes, triggering ribosome biogenesis, and synthesizing components necessary for cell division, specified in the nucleus and nucleolus. Chromatin immunoprecipitation DNA-sequencing (ChIP-seq) for CK2 as well as the histone modifications H3K4me3, H3K27ac, Pol II, Pol IISerP2 in RPE cells versus CK2alpha-CRISPR/Cas9 knockout cells as a control.