title: Identification of a human ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that mediates the E6-AP-dependent ubiquitination of p53.
abstract: The E6 protein of the oncogenic human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 facilitates the rapid degradation of the tumor-suppressor protein p53 via the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway. The E6 protein binds to a cellular protein of 100 kDa termed E6-AP. The complex of E6 and E6-AP specifically interacts with p53 and induces the ubiquitination of p53 in a reaction which requires the ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1) and a cellular fraction thought to contain a mammalian ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2). This mammalian E2 activity could be replaced with bacterially expressed UBC8 from Arabidopsis thaliana, which belongs to a subfamily of E2s including yeast UBC4 and UBC5 which are highly conserved at the amino acid level. In this paper we describe the cloning of a human cDNA encoding a human E2 that we have designated UbcH5 and that is related to Arabidopsis UBC8 and the other members of this subfamily. We demonstrate that UbcH5 can function in the E6/E6-AP-induced ubiquitination of p53.
authors.affiliation: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheffner
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Huibregtse
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Howley
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D014452:Ubiquitins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D014452:Ubiquitins; D014764:Viral Proteins; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D008025:Ligases