Properties of the ubiquitin conjugation system from bovine eye lens.

A post-translational protein modification system involving the polypeptide ubiquitin results in ubiquitin-protein conjugates of various functions. A ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme system was isolated from the epithelial tissue of bovine eye lens by DEAE-Sepharose and Bio-Gel A-1.5m column chromatography. The lens system shows similar enzymatic properties to the one from rabbit reticulocytes: requirement for ATP and sensitivity to thiol reagents. Two sets of prominent ubiquitin conjugates were formed with endogenous ubiquitin-acceptor proteins from fractions of the Bio-Gel column: a pair of ubiquitin conjugates of approximately 130 kDa and others with very high molecular mass. Extreme specificity is indicated by the ability of the lens system to catalyze conjugation of ubiquitin to the few endogenous acceptor proteins, or to histone H2B, but not to lysozyme, S-carboxymethylated bovine serum albumin, or native or heat-denatured lens alpha crystallin.