Theregulatoryprocessknownasproteinubiquitinationmodifiescellularproteinswith far-reachingimpactsonhumanhealthanddisease.Itisinvolvedineveryknown biologicalprocessandisimplicatedinagrowingrangeofdiseasesthatincludes cancers,neurodegenerativediseases,musclewasting,etc.Studiesconducted worldwideoverthepasttwentyyearshavedefinedthemechanismsbywhichprotein ubiquitinationiscarriedout,withoneobviousexception.Almostlittleisknownabouthow substrates(i.e.,thecellularproteinsthataremodifiedbythissystem)arerecognized andhowtheyfitintotheultimatemechanism.Inthecominggrantperiod,weproposeto rectifythissituationfortwoimportantubiquitinE3ligases,BRCA1/BARD1andHHARI. Ourgoalsaremadepossiblebyseveralimportantadvances,includingdefinitionofbona fidesubstratesforeachoftheseE3sandtheabilitytochemicallysynthesize biochemicallyhomogeneousversionoftheproducts.Wewillalsoinvestigatetwo uncharacterizedhumanE2Ubiquitin-conjugatingenzymesthateachhave unusual/uniqueactivitiesinthattheyattachUbtoproteingroupsotherthanlysines, therebyexpandingtheuniverseofpossibleattachmentsites.Wewilluseacombination ofbiochemical,structural,andcellularapproachestoaddressquestionsoffundamental importanceandgeneralrelevance.
Theregulatoryprocessknownasproteinubiquitinationmodifiescellularproteins withfar-??reachingimpactsonhumanhealthanddisease.Itisinvolvedinevery knownbiologicalprocessandisimplicatedinagrowingrangeofdiseasesthat includescancers,neurodegenerativediseases,musclewasting,etc.Wearestudying theexpandingrolesofproteinubiquitinationtounderstandunderlyingprinciplesof theprocessthatcanguidefutureeffortstomanipulateortargettheprocess.
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