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Plant ubiquitin ligases as signaling hubs

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 21, pages 293–296 (2014)Cite this article

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The past decade has witnessed an explosion in the identification of ubiquitin-ligase complexes as the missing receptors for important small-molecule hormones regulating plant growth and development. These breakthroughs were initiated by genetic approaches, with structural analysis providing mechanistic insights into how hormone perception and signaling are coupled to protein ubiquitination. Although there are still many unknowns, plants have imparted valuable lessons about the pharmacology of ubiquitin modification.

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Figure 1: The general modular architecture of CRLs and SCF E3 ligase complexes.
Figure 2: Plant cullin–RING ligases and mechanisms for hormone-dependent substrate recognition.
Figure 3: A strategy for plant hormone–inspired drug discovery.

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Acknowledgements

N.Z. is supported as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, with additional support provided by the US National Institutes of Health (R01-CA107134) and National Science Foundation (0929100).

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  1. Nitzan Shabek and Ning Zheng are in the Department of Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,

    Nitzan Shabek & Ning Zheng

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  1. Nitzan Shabek
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  2. Ning Zheng
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Correspondence to Ning Zheng.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Shabek, N., Zheng, N. Plant ubiquitin ligases as signaling hubs. Nat Struct Mol Biol 21, 293–296 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2804

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