cyclin dependent kinase 2 associated protein 1(CDK2AP1) Homo sapiens The protein encoded by this gene is a cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) -associated protein which is thought to negatively regulate CDK2 activity by sequestering monomeric CDK2, and targeting CDK2 for proteolysis. This protein was found to also interact with DNA polymerase alpha/primase and mediate the phosphorylation of the large p180 subunit, which suggests a regulatory role in DNA replication during the S-phase of the cell cycle. This protein also forms a core subunit of the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation (NURD) complex that epigenetically regulates embryonic stem cell differentiation. This gene thus plays a role in both cell-cycle and epigenetic regulation. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2012]