LAUSR

Simple Summary Kinases are biomolecules that control cellular reactions essential for life. Disruptions in kinase expression and activity lead to the development of diseases such as cancer. A great deal of funding and scientific effort has been poured into kinase research, leading to great advancement. For example, a groundbreaking discovery was the development of imatinib, a kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of CML. Despite these discoveries, a large portion of the human kinome remains understudied. This review seeks to address this issue by discussing the understudied NEK family of kinases. We do this by discussing existing studies, analyzing correlations between the expression of NEK genes and patient survival outcomes in different cancers, discussing NEK mutations found in different cancer tissue types, and covering potential funding opportunities for those interested in pursuing NEK research. Abstract The Never in Mitosis Gene A (NIMA)–related kinases (NEKs) are a group of serine/threonine kinases that are involved in a wide array of cellular processes including cell cycle regulation, DNA damage repair response (DDR), apoptosis, and microtubule organization. Recent studies have identified the involvement of NEK family members in various diseases such as autoimmune disorders, malignancies, and developmental defects. Despite the existing literature exemplifying the importance of the NEK family of kinases, this family of protein kinases remains understudied. This report seeks to provide a foundation for investigating the role of different NEKs in malignancies. We do this by evaluating the 11 NEK family kinase gene expression associations with patients’ overall survival (OS) from various cancers using the Kaplan–Meier Online Tool (KMPlotter) to correlate the relationship between mRNA expression of NEK1-11 in various cancers and patient survival. Furthermore, we use the Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database to identify NEK family mutations in cancers of different tissues. Overall, the data suggest that the NEK family has varying associations with patient survival in different cancers with tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting effects being tissue-dependent.