Review
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World J Biol Chem. May 26, 2014; 5(2): 141-160
Published online May 26, 2014. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v5.i2.141
“Stop Ne(c)king around”: How interactomics contributes to functionally characterize Nek family kinases
Gabriela Vaz Meirelles, Arina Marina Perez, Edmárcia Elisa de Souza, Fernanda Luisa Basei, Priscila Ferreira Papa, Talita Diniz Melo Hanchuk, Vanessa Bomfim Cardoso, Jörg Kobarg
Gabriela Vaz Meirelles, Arina Marina Perez, Edmárcia Elisa de Souza, Fernanda Luisa Basei, Priscila Ferreira Papa, Talita Diniz Melo Hanchuk, Vanessa Bomfim Cardoso, Jörg Kobarg, Laboratório Nacional de Biociências, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais, Campinas, SP 13084-971, Brazil
Edmárcia Elisa de Souza, Fernanda Luisa Basei, Talita Diniz Melo Hanchuk, Vanessa Bomfim Cardoso, Jörg Kobarg, Departamento de Bioquímica-Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Funcional e Molecular, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP 13084-971, Brasil
Priscila Ferreira Papa, Jörg Kobarg, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes-Programa de Pós-graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP 13084-971, Brasil
Author contributions: Meirelles GV, Perez AM, de Souza EE, Basei FL, Papa PF, Melo Hanchuk TD, Cardoso VB, Kobarg J performed the literature search, analysis and interpretation of the data, and contributed specific parts of the manuscript; Meirelles GV and Kobarg J elaborated the figures; Kobarg J, Meirelles GV and Perez AM conceived the overall idea of the review, elaborated the final version of the text together, and supervised the project; all the authors read, revised and approved the final version.
Supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado São Paulo (FAPESP, Grant No.2010/51730-0), Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CNPq), and Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM)
Correspondence to: Jörg Kobarg, PhD, Laboratório Nacional de Biociências, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais, Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro 10.000, C.P. 6192, Campinas, SP 13084-971, Brasil. jorg.kobarg@lnbio.cnpem.br
Telephone: +55-19-35121125 Fax: +55-19-35121006
Received: November 23, 2013
Revised: January 7, 2014
Accepted: February 16, 2014
Published online: May 26, 2014
Processing time: 199 Days and 15.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Never in mitosis-gene A (NIMA)-related kinases (Neks) are a family of 11 human kinases involved in cell cycle regulation. This article represents an in-depth review of the current knowledge on the function of each of the 11 human Nek kinases. Furthermore, we present arguments in the discussion of how systems biology, especially interactomics, helped to uncover that the majority of Neks are involved in more than one of the three Neks core functions: (1) centrioles/mitosis; (2) primary ciliary function/ciliopathies; and (3) the DNA damage response. Possibly, the Neks act on a higher regulatory level which may control the core functions.