School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.
Trends Plant Sci. 2011 Jan;16(1):38-46. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2010.09.007. Epub 2010 Oct 19.
The ubiquitin proteasome pathway is one of the major regulatory tools used by eukaryotic cells. E3 ligases, which allow controlled modification of proteins with ubiquitin, are crucial for the specificity of the pathway. Recently, an additional plant cullin-based E3 ligase complex was described which contains cullin 4 (CUL4) and DAMAGED DNA BINDING 1 protein as core subunits. Our knowledge of this E3 ligase has increased tremendously since its first description, and it seems to be involved in many developmental and physiological processes. Here, we review the most recent studies on CUL4 E3 complexes, with a focus on their substrate recognition and the plethora of processes that they regulate in plants, such as photomorphogenesis, flowering and abiotic stress response.
泛素蛋白酶体途径是真核细胞使用的主要调控工具之一。E3 连接酶允许用泛素对蛋白质进行受控修饰，对于该途径的特异性至关重要。最近，描述了另一种基于植物 Cullin 的 E3 连接酶复合物，该复合物包含 Cullin 4（CUL4）和 DAMAGED DNA BINDING 1 蛋白作为核心亚基。自首次描述以来，我们对该 E3 连接酶的了解大大增加，它似乎参与了许多发育和生理过程。在这里，我们综述了关于 CUL4 E3 复合物的最新研究，重点介绍了它们的底物识别以及它们在植物中调节的众多过程，例如光形态建成、开花和非生物胁迫反应。
