The human HERC family of ubiquitin ligases: novel members, genomic organization, expression profiling, and evolutionary aspects. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • The HERC family of ubiquitin ligases is characterized by the presence of a HECT domain and one or more RCC1-like domains. We report the identification of two novel members, HERC4 and HERC6, and subdivide the family into one group of two large and one group of four small members according to protein size and domain structure. The small members share a similar genomic organization, three of them mapping to chromosomal region 4q22, indicating strong evolutionary cohesions. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the HERC ancestor emerged in nematodes and that the family expanded throughout evolution. The mRNA expression pattern of the small human members was found to be diverse in selected tissues and cells; overexpressed proteins display a similar cytosolic distribution. These data indicate that the HERC family members exhibit similarities in many aspects, but also sufficient differences indicating functional diversity.

publication date

  • February 1, 2005

Research

keywords

  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 12844271569

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.ygeno.2004.10.006

PubMed ID

  • 15676274

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 85

issue

  • 2