Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P62988 (Ubiquitin)
 4,326 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Ubiquitin in normal cells may be important in degrading or transferring short-lived or aberrant proteins to lysosomal dense bodies. To examine its role in degrading proteins produced by a chemical insult, changes in the distribution of ubiquitin and the carboxy-terminal hydrolase, PGP 9.5, have been studied in rat hippocampal neurons and cerebellar Purkinje cells in trimethyltin intoxication. Here tubulovesicular dense bodies (TVBs) form from 12h onwards associated with vacuolation of the Golgi apparatus. Striking accumulations of lysosomal dense bodies follow in hippocampal pyramidal cells but not in cerebellar Purkinje cells; many of the hippocampal neurons later die, while the Purkinje cells generally survive. Ubiquitin immunoreactivity was diffusely increased in hippocampal pyramidal and Purkinje cells 6 h after dosing. By 12 h both diffuse and granular ubiquitin immunoreactivity was present that intensified over 24 and 48 h. Both by light and electron microscopy TVBs showed ubiquitin immunoreactivity, but dense bodies in hippocampal perikarya did not stain with an anti-ubiquitin antibody. PGP 9.5 immunoreactivity was not altered in hippocampal cells at any time, while Purkinje and Golgi cell dendrites and perikarya showed intensified labelling at 3 h that reached a peak of 12 h. At 48 h Western blot analysis of hippocampal homogenates showed significant increases in high molecular weight (HMW) ubiquitin conjugates, while cerebellar homogenates showed an increase in ubiquitin-histone conjugates. Northern blot analyses showed no change in ubiquitin or PGP9.5 gene expression in hippocampus or cerebellum. These findings suggest that the material in the TVBs in hippocampal cells is not being degraded by the ubiquitin system but passes ubiquitinated into the lysosomal system, while material in Purkinje cell TVBs is degraded by the ubiquitin system, suggesting it may have a different composition in each type of neuron.
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PMID:Ubiquitin, PGP 9.5 and dense body formation in trimethyltin intoxication: differential neuronal responses to chemically induced cell damage. 138 41

Under conditions unfavorable to growth, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans enters a developmentally arrested stage, the dauer larva. We have examined gene expression in the dauer larva and during recovery from the dauer stage. Run-on transcription assays with isolated nuclei reveal a depression of general RNA polymerase II transcription to 11-17% of that in other stages. Transcription of individual gene families (including actin, collagen, hsp70, and histone) is similarly depressed relative to actively growing stages. Dauer larvae are, however, capable of being induced for heat shock messages, indicating that they are competent to initiate and elongate transcripts. For most genes surveyed, reduced transcription in dauer larvae correlates with a decrease in message abundance. Hsp70 mRNA, however, is transcribed at lower rates but accumulates at levels comparable to those in other stages. Interestingly, dauer larvae are 15-fold enriched in a mRNA for a C. elegans hsp90 gene. Hsp90 mRNA accumulation is regulated at least in part by differential stability. Dauer larvae thus appear to have a unique pattern of gene expression. Upon placement in food, dauer larvae reenter the developmental pathway as late-stage larvae. Dauer recovery is accompanied by a temporally regulated sequence of gene expression. At least four distinct patterns of gene expression can be distinguished during exit from the dauer stage. Steady-state levels of hsp70 and polyubiquitin mRNA rise sharply within 75 min of recovery before declining by the fourth hour. Actin and histone mRNAs increase steadily following 2-4 hr of recovery, whereas myosin mRNA increases after 10 hr. In contrast, hsp90 mRNA declines sharply within the first 75 min of recovery. Changes in mRNA populations during dauer formation and exit may be physiologically relevant.
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PMID:Gene expression in the Caenorhabditis elegans dauer larva: developmental regulation of Hsp90 and other genes. 157 99

Ubiquitin carrier proteins (E2s) are involved in the covalent attachment of ubiquitin to a variety of cellular target proteins in eukaryotes. Here, we report the cloning of genes from wheat and Arabidopsis thaliana that encode 16-kDa E2s and a domain analysis of E2s by in vitro mutagenesis. The genes for E216kDa, which we have designated wheat and At UBC1, encode proteins that are only 33% identical (58% similar) with a 23-kDa E2 from wheat (encoded by the gene now designated wheat UBC4), but are 63% identical (82% similar) with the E2 encoded by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA repair gene, RAD6. Unlike the proteins encoded by RAD6 and wheat UBC4, the UBC1 gene products lack acidic C-terminal domains extending beyond the conserved core of the proteins and are incapable of efficient in vitro ligation of ubiquitin to histones. From enzymatic analysis of the UBC1 and UBC4 gene products mutagenized in vitro, we have identified several domains important for E2 function, including the active site cysteine and N-terminal and C-terminal domains. Cysteine residues 88 and 85 in the UBC1 and UBC4 gene products, respectively, are necessary for formation of the ubiquitin-E2 thiol ester intermediate. Whereas the UBC1 gene product does not require its additional cysteine residue at position 116 for thiol ester formation, alteration of cysteine 143 in the UBC4 gene product greatly diminishes this ability. The N terminus of UBC1 contains two domains that affect activity: a proximal region containing hydroxylated and uncharged residues whose removal increases the rate of thiol ester formation and a distal tract rich in basic residues. Deletion or substitution of these basic residues with neutral residues diminishes the rate of thiol ester formation. We have demonstrated also that C-terminal extensions can function to confer substrate specificity to E2s. When the acidic extension was deleted from UBC4, the protein was unable to efficiently conjugate ubiquitin to histones in vitro. Furthermore, fusion of the UBC4 acidic extension to the C terminus of UBC1 resulted in a chimeric protein capable of efficient histone conjugation, as did fusion of short tracts of alternating aspartate and glutamate residues. This result suggests that the target protein specificity of E2s can be altered by the addition of appropriate C-terminal extensions, thus providing a way to modify the selectivity of the ubiquitin system.
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PMID:Cloning of a 16-kDa ubiquitin carrier protein from wheat and Arabidopsis thaliana. Identification of functional domains by in vitro mutagenesis. 166 Aug 87

Ubiquitin is involved in the degradation of denatured proteins in the recovery process after various stresses. To clarify the different responses of the ubiquitin system in the hippocampal neurons after ischemia, we chose 7.5 min of sublethal forebrain ischemia in the rat. After 7.5 min of ischemia, ubiquitin-like immunoreactivity (UIR) in most of the hippocampal pyramidal cells, except for the interneurons, diminished after 3 h of reperfusion, but enhanced UIR and subsequent recovery of UIR were observed in the different hippocampal regions after 24 h of reperfusion. The most prolonged recovery of UIR in the hippocampal cells was observed in the CA1 neurons after 72 h of reperfusion. Immunoblot analysis of the proteins extracted from CA1 region showed that high-mol-wt ubiquitin conjugates (HMWUC) above 40 kDa increased, whereas free ubiquitin and ubiquitinated histone 2A decreased slightly after 4 h and 24 h of reperfusion. At 72 h of reperfusion, HMWUC decreased to the original level and free ubiquitin slightly increased beyond the control level. These results suggested that (1) diminished UIR does not always mean depletion of entire ubiquitin-protein conjugates; (2) even after sublethal ischemia, damaged proteins in the CA1 neurons may increase, and it may take a long time for elimination of these proteins.
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PMID:Changes in ubiquitin and ubiquitin-protein conjugates in the CA1 neurons after transient sublethal ischemia. 166 59

Radioiodinated histone H3 was incubated with ubiquitin, the ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1, and one of three ubiquitin carrier proteins, reticulocyte E2(20K) or E2(32K) or the yeast RAD6 product. Although the resulting ubiquitin-histone conjugates were synthesized in the absence of the substrate-binding protein E3, they were nevertheless degraded by purified rabbit reticulocyte 26 S protease. In contrast, unmodified histone H3 remained intact upon challenge with the 26 S ubiquitin/ATP-dependent enzyme. Conjugates produced by the RAD6 protein were better proteolytic substrates than those formed by reticulocyte E2 unless ubiquitin molecules with altered lysines were used for conjugate synthesis. Substitution of methylated ubiquitin or ubiquitin molecules in which lysine 48 was converted to arginine by site-directed mutation produced histone conjugates that were degraded at slow but measurable rates. Since methylated ubiquitin molecules are incapable of forming branched polyubiquitin chains, these results demonstrate that neither ubiquitin "trees" nor the substrate binding factor E3 is absolutely required for ubiquitin-dependent degradation of histone H3 in vitro.
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PMID:Ubiquitin-mediated degradation of histone H3 does not require the substrate-binding ubiquitin protein ligase, E3, or attachment of polyubiquitin chains. 217 83

Ubiquitin is a 76-amino acid protein whose sequence is highly conserved throughout evolution from invertebrates to mammals. It is both a cytoplasmic and nuclear protein. In the cytoplasm it is involved in ATP-dependent nonlysosomal proteolysis. In the nucleus, ubiquitin is conjugated to histone 2A and may play a role in regulation of chromatin structure and/or regulation of transcriptional activity. During attempts to identify a cDNA encoding somatomedin-C (insulin-like growth factor I) we screened a fetal human liver cDNA library with a mixture of 17 base oligonucleotides corresponding to a portion of the B chain of somatomedin-C. One oligonucleotide of the mixture hybridized to two cDNAs encoding ubiquitin despite a 2-base pair mismatch. Nucleotide sequence analyses of the 350- and 516-base pair cDNAs revealed that they correspond to the same ubiquitin mRNA. The coding sequence of the 516-base pair cDNA begins at amino acid 5 of the ubiquitin sequence and encodes amino acids 5 through 76 of ubiquitin, an 80-amino acid carboxy-terminal extension, a 3' untranslated region, and a poly(A) tail. The finding that ubiquitin is synthesized as a precursor raises the possibility that the precursor sequence may be important in compartmentalization of ubiquitin or ubiquitin precursors. Analyses of ubiquitin mRNAs in poly(A) RNA extracted from human liver and various rat tissues reveals that there are three distinct mRNAs encoding ubiquitin in humans and four mRNAs in the rat.
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PMID:Nucleotide sequence analysis of a cDNA encoding human ubiquitin reveals that ubiquitin is synthesized as a precursor. 258 67

[125I]Ubiquitin introduced into permeabilized hepatoma tissue culture (HTC) cells rapidly forms conjugates with endogenous proteins. A characteristic pattern of low mol. wt conjugates is obtained which includes the ubiquitinated histone, uH2A, and unknown molecular species with MrS of 14, 23, 26 (two bands) and 29 kd. A broad spectrum of higher mol. wt conjugates is also produced. The formation of all conjugates is absolutely dependent on ATP, and upon depletion of ATP they are rapidly broken down. The 14, 23 and 29 kd species are found in all subcellular fractions examined. uH2A is located exclusively in the nuclear fraction. The pair of 26 kd bands is specifically associated with the ribosome fraction. A considerable percentage of the higher mol. wt conjugates sediments with the small particle (100,000 g) fraction in the ultracentrifuge but is solubilized with deoxycholate, indicating that there are many membrane-associated conjugates. The pattern of ubiquitin conjugation in interphase and metaphase cells was compared. The incorporation of ubiquitin into uH2A was markedly reduced in metaphase cells whereas its incorporation into other low mol. wt conjugates and into high mol. wt conjugates was affected slightly, if at all. This shows that the known decrease of uH2A levels in metaphase is due to a specific effect on histone ubiquitination and not to a general decrease in ubiquitination activity or increase of isopeptidase activity. Changes in the levels of uH2A during mitosis measured by immunoblotting were similar to those estimated in permeabilized cells. These experiments indicate that permeabilized cells provide a useful approach to the study of rapidly turning over ubiquitin conjugates in mammalian cells.
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PMID:Conjugation of [125I]ubiquitin to cellular proteins in permeabilized mammalian cells: comparison of mitotic and interphase cells. 301 20

Ubiquitin was radiolabeled by reaction with 125I-Bolton-Hunter reagent and introduced into HeLa cells using erythrocyte-mediated microinjection. The injected cells were then incubated at 45 degrees C for 5 min (reversible heat-shock) or for 30 min (lethal heat-shock). After either treatment, there were dramatic changes in the levels of ubiquitin conjugates. Under normal culture conditions, approximately 10% of the injected ubiquitin is linked to histones, 40% is found in conjugates with molecular weights greater than 25,000, and the rest is unconjugated. After heat-shock, the free ubiquitin pool and the level of histone-ubiquitin conjugates decreased rapidly, and high molecular weight conjugates predominated. Formation of large conjugates did not require protein synthesis; when analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis, the major conjugates did not co-migrate with heat-shock proteins before or after thermal stress. Concomitant with the loss of free ubiquitin, the degradation of endogenous proteins, injected hemoglobin, BSA, and ubiquitin was reduced in heat-shocked HeLa cells. After reversible heat-shock, the decrease in proteolysis was small, and both the rate of proteolysis and the size of the free ubiquitin pool returned to control levels upon incubation at 37 degrees C. In contrast, neither proteolysis nor free ubiquitin pools returned to control levels after lethal heat-shock. However, lethally heat-shocked cells degraded denatured hemoglobin more rapidly than native hemoglobin and ubiquitin-globin conjugates formed within them. Therefore, stabilization of proteins after heat-shock cannot be due to the loss of ubiquitin conjugation or inability to degrade proteins that form conjugates with ubiquitin.
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PMID:Microinjection of ubiquitin: changes in protein degradation in HeLa cells subjected to heat-shock. 302 42

A human erythroleukemia cell line, K-562 T1, was adapted to a protein-free chemically defined medium; that is, the medium does not contain any proteins such as exogenous hormones, growth factors, serum and serum albumin. The K-562 T1 cells which can proliferate in a protein-free medium are one of the model systems suitably supporting the autocrine hypothesis, which claims that cancer cells produce and respond to their own growth factors. The K-562 T1 cells were cultured in a protein-free medium at large scale and the growth factors were purified from the conditioned medium. It was found that K-562 T1 cells produce at least two growth factors; one is LGF-I (leukemia-derived growth factor-I) which can stimulate the proliferation of a wide range of human leukemia cell lines and the other is LGF-II (leukemia-derived growth factor-II), which can contribute to the growth of fibroblasts. LGF-I was purified using QAE-Sephadex, Bio Gel P-60 and Mono S FPLC. The purified protein was found to be homogenous by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and NH2-terminal sequence analysis. The molecular weight of LGF-I was 20,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The 30 NH2-terminal residues of LGF-I are the same as that of ubiquitin. Ubiquitin is a protein found in eukaryotic cells with molecular weight of 8,600. In the nucleus ubiquitin is conjugated to histone 2A to form the nuclear protein A24 which may play a role in regulation of chromatin structure, and in the cytoplasm is part of an ATP-dependent non-lysosomal proteolytic pathway. However, its physiological significance has not yet been fully resolved. Ubiquitin purified from bovine thymus did not show cell proliferating activity for any cells tested. The results suggest that LGF-I is a new autocrine growth factor with a molecular weight of 20,000 daltons, containing ubiquitin at the NH2-terminal end.
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PMID:N-terminal amino acid sequence of leukemia derived growth factor (LGF) from human erythroleukemia cell culture. 303 91

Histone octamers from calf thymus were separated into (H3:H4)2 tetramers and H2A:H2B dimers by chromatography through Sephadex G100. The tetramers and dimers were analyzed for variants, ubiquitin adducts, and proteolyzed forms. The minor histone variants H2A.X and H2A.Z were found to be associated with histone H2B as H2A.X:H2B and H2A.Z:H2B dimers, respectively. Ubiquitin adducts of the H2A's and H2B were also present in H2A:H2B dimers.
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PMID:Minor histone 2A variants and ubiquinated forms in the native H2A:H2B dimer. 630 66


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