The 90-kDa ribosomal S6 kinases (RSK1-3) are important mediators of growth factor stimulation of cellular proliferation, survival, and differentiation and are activated via coordinated phosphorylation by ERK and 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1). Here we performed the functional characterization of a predicted new human RSK homologue, RSK4. We showed that RSK4 is a predominantly cytosolic protein with very low expression and several characteristics of the RSK family kinases, including the presence of two functional kinase domains and a C-terminal docking site for ERK. Surprisingly, however, in all cell types analyzed, endogenous RSK4 was maximally ( cdc2 -inhibitory kinase Myt1 (7) and the protein kinase Bub1 (8), respectively. In somatic cell types, RSK may stimulate cell division through phosphorylation of substrates like p27 Kip1 (9) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (10 -12); protein synthesis and cell growth through substrates like elongation factor 2 kinase (13), glycogen synthase kinase-3 (10 -12), transcription initiation factor IA (14), and tuberous sclerosis complex-2 protein (15); cell survival through Bad (16); and transcription through substrates like c-Fos (17) and estrogen receptor (18). Experiments with PC12 cells suggest that RSK is a key mediator of ERK in neurotrophin-induced neuronal differentiation (19). Finally genetic evidence from human and mouse has identified an important role for RSK2 in osteoblast differentiation and function through phosphorylation of activating transcription factor-4 (20) and in stimulation of white adipose tissue mass via an unknown mechanism (21). RSK is related to the mitogen-and stress-activated protein kinases (MSK1 and MSK2), which also contain two kinase domains. MSK, however, is activated by the ERK family as well as by p38 family MAP kinases and thereby functions in signal transduction of growth factors as well as of cellular stress stimuli like UV/radioactive irradiation and proinflammatory cytokines (22,23).The substrates of RSK are phosphorylated by the N-terminal kinase (NTK) domain (24 -27) whose activity is regulated by