Diverse functions with a common regulator: ubiquitin takes command of an AAA ATPase.

Cdc48/p97, a member of the AAA (ATPase associated with various cellular activities) ATPase family, participates in various cellular pathways including membrane fusion, protein folding/unfolding, proteolysis-dependent transcriptional control, protein degradation, and spindle disassembly. How Cdc48/p97 can perform such diverse functions is unclear, but the recently established connection between components of the ubiquitination system and various p97 activities suggests that these seemingly unrelated processes mediated by Cdc48/p97 may all be governed by ubiquitin.