title: Modification by ubiquitin-like proteins: significance in apoptosis and autophagy pathways.
abstract: Ubiquitin-like proteins (Ubls) confer diverse functions on their target proteins. The modified proteins are involved in various biological processes, including DNA replication, signal transduction, cell cycle control, embryogenesis, cytoskeletal regulation, metabolism, stress response, homeostasis and mRNA processing. Modifiers such as SUMO, ATG12, ISG15, FAT10, URM1, and UFM have been shown to modify proteins thus conferring functions related to programmed cell death, autophagy and regulation of the immune system. Putative modifiers such as Domain With No Name (DWNN) have been identified in recent times but not fully characterized. In this review, we focus on cellular processes involving human Ubls and their targets. We review current progress in targeting these modifiers for drug design strategies.
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular & Cell Biology, Gatehouse 512, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.
authors.forename: Umar-Faruq
authors.initials: UF
authors.lastname: Cajee
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular & Cell Biology, Gatehouse 512, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.
authors.forename: Rodney
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hull
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular & Cell Biology, Gatehouse 512, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.
authors.forename: Monde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ntwasa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D001343:Autophagy / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational / Q000276:immunology*; D054875:Ubiquitination / Q000276:immunology*; D014452:Ubiquitins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D014452:Ubiquitins
keywords: DWNN; SNAMA; Ubls; apoptosis; autophagy; cancer; immune response; p53; ubiquitin-like; ubiquitin-proteasome