Publication Abstract from PubMed
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 is a human neurodegenerative disease resulting from polyglutamine tract expansion. The affected protein, ataxin-3, which contains an N-terminal Josephin domain followed by tandem ubiquitin (Ub)-interacting motifs (UIMs) and a polyglutamine stretch, has been implicated in the function of the Ub proteasome system. NMR-based structural analysis has now revealed that the Josephin domain binds Ub and has a papain-like fold that is reminiscent of that of other deubiquitinases, despite primary sequence divergence but consistent with its deubiqutinating activity. Mutation of the catalytic Cys enhances the stability of a complex between ataxin-3 and polyubiquitinated proteins. This effect depends on the integrity of the UIM region, suggesting that the UIMs are bound to the substrate polyubiquitin during catalysis. We propose that ataxin-3 functions as a polyubiquitin chain-editing enzyme.
Deubiquitinating function of ataxin-3: insights from the solution structure of the Josephin domain.,Mao Y, Senic-Matuglia F, Di Fiore PP, Polo S, Hodsdon ME, De Camilli P Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Sep 6;102(36):12700-5. Epub 2005 Aug 23. PMID:16118278[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
