Cyclin beyond the cell cycle: new partners at the synapse

In this issue of Developmental Cell, Odajima, Wills, and colleagues (2011) demonstrate that the cell-cycle regulator, cyclin E, sequesters Cdk5, a key regulator of neuronal development and synaptic plasticity. This cell-cycle-independent function of cyclin E reveals an exciting mode of Cdk5 regulation in postmitotic neurons and offers a window into evolutionary parsimony.