Phosphorylation of multifunctional nucleolar protein nucleophosmin (NPM1) by aurora kinase B is critical for mitotic progression.

•NPM1 and Aurora Kinases play important roles in mitosis.•NPM1 is phosphorylated by Aurora Kinase B predominantly at Ser125 during mitosis.•Ser125-phosphorylated NPM1 localizes in the midbody region during cytokinesis.•Ser125-phosphorylated NPM1 levels are high in oral tumor tissues.•Aurora Kinase B along with NPM1 overexpression may facilitate oncogenesis.