We recently reported that the 'hydrophobic patch' (HP) of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae S-phase cyclin Clb5 facilitates its interaction with Orc6 (via its Cy or RXL motif), providing a mechanism that helps prevent rereplication from individual origins. This is the first finding of a biological function for an interaction between a cyclin and a cyclin-binding motif (Cy or RXL motif) in a target protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is also the first such example involving a B-type cyclin in any organism. Yet, some of our observations as well as work from other groups suggest that HP-RXL interactions are functionally important for cyclin-Cdk signaling to other targets. The evolutionary conservation of the HP motif suggests that it allows cyclins to carry out important and specialized functions.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Archambault et al. (2004) studied this question.