This gene encodes a protein that is highly similar to the casein kinase II alpha protein. Casein kinase II is a serine/threonine protein kinase complex that phosphorylates numerous substrates including casein. The alpha subunit is the catalytic component of the complex. Mutations in this gene may be associated with a susceptibility to lung cancer. There are contradictory views among published reports of this gene as to whether or not it is a protein-coding gene or a processed pseudogene (PMIDs: 20625391, 20625391 and 10094393). [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2012].