Ubiquitin Specific Peptidase 52 (USP52)

Ubiquitin is a small eukaryotic protein that is synthesized naturally as one of several fusion proteins, which are processed by ubiquitin-specific proteases to release free ubiquitin. The expression of heterologous proteins as fusions to ubiquitin in either prokaryotic or eukaryotic hosts often dramatically enhances their yield, and allows the exposure of any amino acid following cleavage of ubiquitin.

USP52 encodes a deadenylase that functions as the catalytic subunit of the polyadenylate binding protein dependent poly(A) nuclease complex. The encoded protein is a magnesium dependent 3' to 5' exoribonuclease that is involved in the degradation of cytoplasmic mRNAs. Alternate splicing results in multiple transcript variants.