A family of proteins whose concentrations rise and fall in a cyclical pattern during the cell cycle, regulating progression through different phases by activating cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Different cyclins control different cell cycle transitions.
Named 'cyclin' in the 1980s because these proteins were discovered to accumulate and then suddenly disappear in cycles that matched cell division timing. The name perfectly captured their oscillating behavior during the cell cycle.
Cyclins are like molecular timers that tell the cell when it's time to move to the next phase of division! Each cyclin has its moment to shine - cyclin E for entering S phase, cyclin B for mitosis - then gets rapidly destroyed once its job is done.
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