The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the dual specificity protein phosphatase family. It was identified as a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, and has been shown to interact with, and dephosphorylate CDK2 kinase, thus prevent the activation of CDK2 kinase. This gene was reported to be deleted, mutated, or overexpressed in several kinds of cancers. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2008].