Phosphorylation of RNA polymerase by the murine homologue of the cell-cycle control protein cdc2.

Actively transcribing eukaryotic RNA polymerase II is highly phosphorylated on its repetitive carboxyl-terminal domain. We have isolated a protein kinase that phosphorylates serine residues in this repetitive domain. A component of this kinase is cdc2, the product of a cell-cycle control gene previously shown to be a component of M-phase-promoting factor and M-phase-specific histone H1 kinase. This observation suggests a role for the cdc2 protein kinase in transcriptional regulation.