Analyzing the molecular roles of the Gumby/Fam105b/Otulin linear deubiquitinase and its relative Fam105a in development

真核细胞使用一种名为“泛素”的小标签作为“邮政编码”，将蛋白质送到正确的位置。泛素本身可以加入其他泛素分子来构建泛素“链”。这些链条就像是更精确的“邮政编码”。虽然所有真核生物都建立泛素链，但只有脊椎动物(脊索动物)建立的是最近发现的“线性泛素链”。一个鲜为人知的观察结果突显了泛素标签的重要性--泛素标签在患有神经退行性疾病(如肌萎缩侧索硬化症或帕金森病)的患者的大脑中可见。

Eukaryotic cells use a small tag called "ubiquitin" as a " zipcode" to send proteins to the right location. Ubiquitin itself can have other ubiquitin molecules added to it to build ubiquitin “chains”. These chains serve as more precise “zipcodes”. While all eukaryotes build ubiquitin chains, only animals with backbones (chordates) build the more recently discovered “linear ubiquitin” chain. The importance of ubiquitin tags - and their removal - is underscored by the poorly understood observation that clumps of ubiquitin tags are seen in brains of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS or Parkinson's.