OTU Domain Containing Protein 3 (OTUD3)

Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are capable of producing a free ubiquitin moiety from ubiquitin-fused precursors and ubiquitylated proteins in cells. DUBs possess conserved catalytic regions known as the 'cys domain' and the 'his domain.' There are 2 distinct families of DUBs: ubiquitin-specific processing proteases (UBPs, or USPs) and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolases (UCHs).

By sequencing clones obtained from a size-fractionated brain cDNA library, Seki et al. (1997) cloned OTUD3, which they designated KIAA0459. The 3-prime end of the cDNA has a repetitive element, and the deduced protein contains 153 amino acids. In vitro transcription and translation resulted in a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 20 kD by SDS-PAGE.