Crystal structure of WWP2 in cartoon visualization.

Ubiquitin mediated PTEN degradation, is viewed as the number one cause of loss of PTEN function in ‘non-small-cell lung carcinoma, and the degradation ubiquitin has been found to be highly rampant in NSCLCs.

The protein is ubiquitinated at k289 and k13, which facilitates their localization in the nucleus. Ubiquitylation process is mostly used to control the levels of PTEN present in colorectal, bladder and gastric cancers.

Both enzymes E3 ubiquitin ligase, WWP2 and PTEN are also involved in the regulation process. The enzymes usually interact with the unbiquitylated PTEN proteins and degrade them in the process.

The unique characteristic about ubiquitilation is that it can be used to either increase the activity of PTEN protein or reduce the number of PTEN proteins depending on the type of ubiquitylation.

Crystal structure of enzyme E3 ligases in ribbon visulization.

(PubMed)

5HPS (PDB)

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