Unexpected Barrier Function

All eukaryotic organisms – that is, all animals, plants and fungi – contain a protein called cyclin dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), which is critical for driving cells through the process of division. This role in cell division has been known for about fifty years, but recent research reveals that CDK1 has another hitherto unknown function. Scientists studying mammalian kidney epithelial cells (pictured) discovered that the protein was located at intercellular connections (green) where it interacted with cell-to-cell cohesion factors and promoted epithelial barrier integrity. Indeed, inhibiting CDK1 activity led to perturbed cell contacts and caused areas of the barrier to become leaky (purple regions). Because of CDK1’s role in the cell cycle, the protein has been proposed as a potential target for cancer therapy. Investigations into such therapies, should thus keep in mind CDK1’s newly discovered function and the implications of its disruption.

Written by Ruth Williams

Ruth Williams

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Ruth is a freelance science journalist based in the US. She's a regular correspondent for The Scientist, and her work has appeared in The Lancet, Nature, Scientific American Mind, BBC Focus and elsewhere. Twitter @rooph

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• Image by from Margarida Dantas and Martijn Gloerich. Re: work by Margarida Dantas & Lisa Donker, and colleagues
• Center for Molecular Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Science Signaling, June 2026