Protein kinase CK2 is a ubiquitous kinase that can phosphorylate hundreds of cellular proteins and plays important roles in cell growth and development. Deregulation of CK2 is related to a variety of human cancers, and CK2 is regarded as a suppressor of apoptosis; therefore, it is a target of anticancer therapy. Nucleolar phosphoprotein 140 (Nopp140), which is an intrinsically disordered protein, interacts with CK2 and inhibits the latter's catalytic activity in vitro. Interestingly, the catalytic activity of CK2 is recovered in the presence of D-myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate (IP 6 ). IP 6 is widely distributed in animal cells, but the molecular mechanisms that govern its cellular functions in animal cells have not been completely elucidated. In this study, the crystal structure of CK2 in complex with IP 6 showed that the lysine-rich cluster of CK2 plays an important role in binding to IP 6 . The biochemical experiments revealed that a Nopp140 fragment (residues 568-596) and IP 6 competitively bind to the catalytic subunit of CK2 (CK2α), and phospho-Ser574 of Nopp140 significantly enhances its interaction with CK2α. Substitutions of K74E, K76E, and K77E in CK2α significantly reduced the interactions of CK2α with both IP 6 and the Nopp140-derived peptide. Our study gives an insight into the regulation of CK2. In particular, our work suggests that CK2 activity is inhibited by Nopp140 and reactivated by IP 6 by competitive binding at the substrate recognition site of CK2.inositol hexakisphosphate | IDP | phosphorylation P rotein phosphorylation is a major aspect of signaling in cells including cell cycle (1). Casein kinase 2 (CK2) is a ubiquitous protein kinase that is essential for cell growth (2), development, and other essential cellular processes (3-7). More than 300 proteins that are involved in DNA replication, transcription, translation, and signal transduction are phosphorylated by CK2 (8). CK2 is also involved in the regulation of apoptosis (9, 10). CK2-dependent phosphorylation of AKT kinase, which is essential for cell survival, activates cells to resist apoptosis (11,12). In addition, CK2-dependent phosphorylation of β-catenin, which induces cell proliferation by Wnt signaling, increases its stability and ability to resist proteolysis (13). Deregulation of CK2 is strongly related to a variety of human cancers (14-17), and therefore, CK2 is considered a target for anticancer therapy (18).Structural and biochemical studies have revealed the molecular architecture and catalytic mechanism of CK2. CK2 consists of two catalytic subunits (α and α′) and two regulatory subunits (β) which can form α 2 β 2 or αα′β 2 heterotetramers (19). The crystal structure of the CK2 holoenzyme is composed of a central dimer of regulatory subunits with catalytic subunits bound to them (20). The active site and residues that are critical for substrate binding have been identified (21). The structure of CK2α in complex with an ATP-analog inhibitor showed a common ATP binding pocket that consists of the residues Lys68,...