Ubiquitin is a small (8.6 kDa) regulatory protein found in most tissues of eukaryotic organisms, i.e., it is found ubiquitously. It was discovered in 1975 by Gideon Goldstein and further characterized throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. Four genes in the human genome code for ubiquitin: UBB, UBC, UBA52 and RPS27A.
A ubiquitin ligase is a protein that recruits an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that has been loaded with ubiquitin, recognizes a protein substrate, and assists or directly catalyzes the transfer of ubiquitin from the E2 to the protein substrate. In simple and more general terms, the ligase enables movement of ubiquitin from a ubiquitin carrier to another protein by some mechanism. The ubiquitin, once it reaches its destination, ends up being attached by an isopeptide bond to a lysine residue, which is part of the target protein. E3 ligases interact with both the target protein and the E2 enzyme, and so impart substrate specificity to the E2. Commonly, E3s polyubiquitinate their substrate with Lys48-linked chains of ubiquitin, targeting the substrate for destruction by the proteasome. However, many other types of linkages are possible and alter a protein's activity, interactions, or localization. Ubiquitination by E3 ligases regulates diverse areas such as cell trafficking, DNA repair, and signaling and is of profound importance in cell biology. E3 ligases are also key players in cell cycle control, mediating the degradation of cyclins, as well as cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor proteins. The human genome encodes over 600 putative E3 ligases, allowing for tremendous diversity in substrates.
Ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme 1 (UBA1) is an enzyme which in humans is encoded by the UBA1 gene. UBA1 participates in ubiquitination and the NEDD8 pathway for protein folding and degradation, among many other biological processes. This protein has been linked to X-linked spinal muscular atrophy type 2, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancers.
Skp, Cullin, F-box containing complex is a multi-protein E3 ubiquitin ligase complex that catalyzes the ubiquitination of proteins destined for 26S proteasomal degradation. Along with the anaphase-promoting complex, SCF has important roles in the ubiquitination of proteins involved in the cell cycle. The SCF complex also marks various other cellular proteins for destruction.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, also known as E2 enzymes and more rarely as ubiquitin-carrier enzymes, perform the second step in the ubiquitination reaction that targets a protein for degradation via the proteasome. The ubiquitination process covalently attaches ubiquitin, a short protein of 76 amino acids, to a lysine residue on the target protein. Once a protein has been tagged with one ubiquitin molecule, additional rounds of ubiquitination form a polyubiquitin chain that is recognized by the proteasome's 19S regulatory particle, triggering the ATP-dependent unfolding of the target protein that allows passage into the proteasome's 20S core particle, where proteases degrade the target into short peptide fragments for recycling by the cell.
Cyclin-dependent kinase 9 or CDK9 is a cyclin-dependent kinase associated with P-TEFb.
S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SKP2 gene.
Cullin 1, also known as CUL1, is a human protein and gene from cullin family. This protein plays an important role in protein degradation and protein ubiquitination.
NEDD8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NEDD8 gene. This ubiquitin-like (UBL) protein becomes covalently conjugated to a limited number of cellular proteins, in a process called NEDDylation similar to ubiquitination. Human NEDD8 shares 60% amino acid sequence identity to ubiquitin. The primary known substrates of NEDD8 modification are the cullin subunits of cullin-based E3 ubiquitin ligases, which are active only when NEDDylated. Their NEDDylation is critical for the recruitment of E2 to the ligase complex, thus facilitating ubiquitin conjugation. NEDD8 modification has therefore been implicated in cell cycle progression and cytoskeletal regulation.
F-box/WD repeat-containing protein 1A (FBXW1A) also known as βTrCP1 or Fbxw1 or hsSlimb or pIkappaBalpha-E3 receptor subunit is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BTRC gene.
Ubiquitin D is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBD gene, also known as FAT10. UBD acts like ubiquitin, by covalently modifying proteins and tagging them for destruction in the proteasome.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 D2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBE2D2 gene.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 G2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBE2G2 gene.
NEDD8-activating enzyme E1 catalytic subunit is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBA3 gene.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 E3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBE2E3 gene.
Ubiquitin/ISG15-conjugating enzyme E2 L6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBE2L6 gene.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 R2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBE2R2 gene.
Cullins are a family of hydrophobic scaffold proteins which provide support for ubiquitin ligases (E3). All eukaryotes appear to have cullins. They combine with RING proteins to form Cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases (CRLs) that are highly diverse and play a role in myriad cellular processes, most notably protein degradation by ubiquitination.
S-phase kinase-associated protein 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SKP1 gene.
Cdc4 is a substrate recognition component of the SCF ubiquitin ligase complex, which acts as a mediator of ubiquitin transfer to target proteins, leading to their subsequent degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Cdc4 targets primarily cell cycle regulators for proteolysis. It serves the function of an adaptor that brings target molecules to the core SCF complex. Cdc4 was originally identified in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. CDC4 gene function is required at G1/S and G2/M transitions during mitosis and at various stages during meiosis.
