The protein encoded by this gene is a member of cyclin-dependent protein kinase (CDK) family. CDK family members are highly similar to the gene products of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cdc28, and Schizosaccharomyces pombe cdc2, and are known to be important regulators of cell cycle progression. This gene was identified as a gene absent in leukemic patients with chromosome 5q deletion. This loss may be an important determinant of dysmyelopoiesis. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008].