Figure 1

The ubiquitin pathway. A) Schematic representation of the ubiquitination process. A hierarchical set of three types of enzyme is required for substrate ubiquitination: ubiquitin-activating (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating (E2) and ubiquitin-protein ligase (E3) enzymes. The two major classes of E3 ligases are depicted. B) Schematic representation of the different Ub modifications with their functional roles. The question mark indicates that the functions of branched chains are largely unknown.