Ubiquitin-like, containing PHD and RING finger domains, 1, also known as UHRF1, is a
protein which in humans is encoded by the ''UHRF1''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
.
Function
This gene encodes a member of a subfamily of
RING-finger type
E3 ubiquitin ligase
A ubiquitin ligase (also called an E3 ubiquitin ligase) is a protein that recruits an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that has been loaded with ubiquitin, recognizes a protein substrate, and assists or directly catalyzes the transfer of ubiquit ...
s. The protein binds to hemi-methylated DNA during S-phase and recruits the main DNA methyltransferase protein,
DNMT1
DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 1 is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of methyl groups to specific CpG structures in DNA, a process called DNA methylation. In humans, it is encoded by the ''DNMT1'' gene. DNMT1 forms part of the family of ...
, to regulate chromatin structure and gene expression. Its expression peaks at late G1 phase and continues during G2 and M phases of the
cell cycle
The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell that cause it to divide into two daughter cells. These events include the duplication of its DNA (DNA replication) and some of its organelles, and subs ...
. It plays a major role in the G1/S transition, and functions in the
p53
p53, also known as Tumor protein P53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins (originally thought to be, and often ...
-dependent DNA damage checkpoint. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. It was originally identified as a direct regulator of topoisomerase 2a, but this has subsequently been disproven. Uhrf1 has been extensively studied in vivo using zebrafish.
Clinical significance
UHRF1 has recently been identified as a novel
oncogene
An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. In tumor cells, these genes are often mutated, or expressed at high levels. in hepatocellular carcinoma, the primary type of liver cancer.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{protein-stub