Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Chemical probes

A key to unlock ubiquitin ligase function

Nature Chemical Biology (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Reliably identifying ubiquitin ligase interactors and substrates has been a persistent challenge in cellular biology. A breakthrough comes in the form of a potent, selective and cell-active chemical probe, shedding light on the intricate functions of a key regulatory enzyme.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Dissecting GID4 interactors through competitive proximity labeling with the chemical probe PFI-7.

References

  1. Bekes, M., Langley, D. R. & Crews, C. M. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 21, 181–200 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Owens, D. D. G. et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01618-0 (2024).

  3. Chen, S. J., Wu, X., Wadas, B., Oh, J. H. & Varshavsky, A. Science 355, eaal3665 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Dong, C. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. 14, 466–473 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Forbes, S. A. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 45, D777–D783 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Chen, S. J., Kim, L., Song, H. K. & Varshavsky, A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2115430118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Onea, G., Maitland, M. E. R., Wang, X., Lajoie, G. A. & Schild-Poulter, C. J. Cell. Sci 135, jcs259638 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Vu, V., Szewczyk, M. M., Nie, D. Y., Arrowsmith, C. H. & Barsyte-Lovejoy, D. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 91, 6–87 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Zhang, X., Crowley, V. M., Wucherpfennig, T. G., Dix, M. M. & Cravatt, B. F. Nat. Chem. Biol. 15, 737–746 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systems and Physical Biology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China

    Shaoshuai Xie & Gang Li

Authors
  1. Shaoshuai Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gang Li.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xie, S., Li, G. A key to unlock ubiquitin ligase function. Nat Chem Biol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01591-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01591-8

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing