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In order to explore the mRNA expression level of cyclin-dependent protein kinase 8 gene (CDK8) in various tissues of red deer (Cervus elaphus) antler velvet and the biological characteristics of the protein encoded by the gene, the full-length coding sequence (CDS) of cyclin-dependent protein kinase 8 gene of red deer was cloned by PCR and connected to pMD-18T vector to measure nucleotide sequences. Thereafter, similarity alignment and phylogenetic tree construction could be carried out, and the resulting nucleotide sequences was further used for similarity comparison and phylogenetic tree construction. The composition, structure and physicochemical properties of CDK8 protein were analyzed by bioinformatics methods. Real-time PCR was used to detect the expression level of CDK8 gene mRNA in antler tissues. The results showed that the coding region of red deer CDK8 was 1, 254 bp in length, and a total of 417 amino acids were encoded. The encoded protein has a relative molecular mass of 47,744. 11 and a theoretical isoelectric point pI of 7.28, which is a hydrophilic unstable protein with no signal peptide and localized to the nucleus with a total of 38 phosphorylation sites, and the secondary structure of the protein is dominated by irregular curls and α helixes. The expression level of CDK8 mRNA is the highest in furry tissue, followed by mesenchymal, then cartilage, and the lowest is in precartilage. CDK8 is an important part of the transcription machine the mediator transcriptional regulatory complex. In this study, the full-length coding sequence of red deer CDK8 was cloned for the first time, which can provide important reference data for us to understand the mechanism and function of CDK8 during antler regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]