Ubiquitin

Literature References: Ubiquitous polypeptide, mol wt 8500 daltons, so named due to its presence in all eukaryotes including plants; widely distributed in the organism. Highly conserved sequence of 76 amino acids is identical in a wide variety of sources including humans, fish, and insects. Participates in diverse cellular functions, such as protein degradation, chromatin structure, and heat shock, by conjugation to other proteins through its carboxyl terminus. Isoln: G. Goldstein et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 72, 11 (1975); as APF-1 and recognition of role as marker in protein degradation: A. Ciechanover et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 81, 1100 (1978); A. Ciechanover et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 1365 (1980); A. Hershko et al., ibid. 1783. Amino acid sequence: D. H. Schlesinger et al., Biochemistry 14, 2214 (1975). Identity of APF-1 with ubiquitin and revised amino acid sequence: A. Ciechanover et al., J. Biol. Chem. 255, 7525 (1980); K. D. Wilkinson et al., ibid. 7529; K. D. Wilkinson, T. K. Audhya, ibid. 256, 9235 (1981). Structural studies: W. J. Cook et al., J. Mol. Biol. 130, 353 (1979); S. Vijay-Kumar et al., J. Biol. Chem. 262, 6396 (1987); P. L. Weber et al., Biochemistry 26, 7282 (1987). Role of chromatin structure: D. C. Watson et al., Nature 276, 196 (1978); R. D. Mueller et al., J. Biol. Chem. 260, 5147 (1985); in receptor structure: M. Siegelman et al., Science 231, 823 (1986). Identity as heat shock protein: U. Bond, M. J. Schlesinger, Mol. Cell. Biol. 5, 949 (1985). Role as marker for protein degradation in polymeric form: A. Hershko, H. Heller, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 128, 1079 (1985); V. Chau et al., Science 243, 1576 (1989). Enzymic determn: I. A. Rose, J. V. B. Warms, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 1477 (1987). Brief review of functions and mechanisms: D. Finley, A. Varshavsky, Trends Biochem. Sci. 10, 343 (1985). Review of protein degradation: M. Rechsteiner, Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 3, 1-30 (1987); A. Hershko, J. Biol. Chem. 263, 15327-15240 (1988). Review: K. D. Wilkinson, Anti-Cancer Drug Des. 2, 211-229 (1987). Book: Ubiquitin, M. Rechsteiner, Ed. (Plenum Press, New York, 1988).