Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme E2M (UBE2M)

The modification of proteins with ubiquitin is an important cellular mechanism for targeting abnormal or short-lived proteins for degradation. Ubiquitination involves at least three classes of enzymes: ubiquitin-activating enzymes, or E1s, ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, or E2s, and ubiquitin-protein ligases, or E3s.

UBE2M encodes a member of the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family. The encoded protein is linked with a ubiquitin-like protein, NEDD8, which can be conjugated to cellular proteins, such as Cdc53/culin.By searching sequence databases, the authors identified a cDNA encoding the human homolog of this 22-kD protein. The predicted 183-amino acid human protein shares 42% sequence identity with S. cerevisiae Ubc12, a member of the E2 enzyme family.