CDK6 binds and promotes the degradation of the EYA2 protein

Cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (Cdk6) is a D-Cyclin-activated kinase that is directly involved in driving the cell cycle through inactivation of pRB in G(1) phase. Increasingly, evidence suggests that CDK6, while directly driving the cell cycle, may only be essential for proliferation of specialized cell types, agreeing with the notion that CDK6 also plays an important role in differentiation. Here, evidence is presented that CDK6 binds to and promotes degradation of the EYA2 protein. The EYA proteins are a family of proteins that activate genes essential for the development of multiple organs, regulate cell proliferation, and are misregulated in several types of cancer. This interaction suggests that CDK6 regulates EYA2 activity, a mechanism that could be important in development and in cancer.