Why is Ubiquitin Important for Protein Degradation?
Protein degradation is a vital cellular process that removes damaged or misfolded proteins, thus maintaining cellular homeostasis. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is the primary pathway for targeted protein degradation. In this system, ubiquitin acts as a tag that signals for the protein to be transported to the proteasome for degradation. The specificity and regulation of this pathway are crucial, as they ensure that only proteins tagged with ubiquitin are degraded.
