美国加州大学旧金山分校医学院的研究人员在最新一期Nature杂志上发表关于泛素化受体ABIN-1的研究性文章，该文章揭示了ABIN-1的生理功能，它具有限制细胞死亡以及维持胚胎发育的功能。
ABIN-1（A20 binding and inhibitor of NF-kB ）是一个新发现的蛋白，具有抑制NF-kB的功能。通过研究ABIN-1的功能，Aberil研究小组发现，小鼠如果通过遗传技术将ABIN-1剔除将会导致严重的后果，其在胚胎发育过程中会出现以下症状，肝脏自我坏死，贫血和发育不全，并因此而死亡。研究发现缺乏ABIN-1的细胞对肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）高度敏感，导致细胞进入凋亡程序；然而，如果细胞在缺乏ABIN-1的同时也缺乏TNF则不会受到致死性的影响，胚胎就能存活下来。ABIN-1能抑制TNF信号通路中Caspase8的补充FADD的作用。ABIN-1在直接结合到多聚泛素链上，然后启动泛素化传感活性。
这项研究成果显示了泛素与泛素肽传感蛋白具有调控细胞和器官维持正常生命机能的作用。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature 457, 906-909 (12 February 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature07575
ABIN-1 is a ubiquitin sensor that restricts cell death and sustains embryonic development
Shigeru Oshima1,2, Emre E. Turer1,2, Joseph A. Callahan1, Sophia Chai1, Rommel Advincula1, Julio Barrera1, Nataliya Shifrin1, Bettina Lee1, Benjamin Yen1, Tammy Woo1, Barbara A. Malynn1 & Averil Ma1
1 Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S-1057, San Francisco, California 94143-0451, USA
2 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Proteins that directly regulate tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) signalling have critical roles in regulating cellular activation and survival. ABIN-1 (A20 binding and inhibitor of NF-B) is a novel protein that is thought to inhibit NF-B signalling1, 2. Here we show that mice deficient for ABIN-1 die during embryogenesis with fetal liver apoptosis, anaemia and hypoplasia. ABIN-1 deficient cells are hypersensitive to tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-induced programmed cell death, and TNF deficiency rescues ABIN-1 deficient embryos. ABIN-1 inhibits caspase 8 recruitment to FADD (Fas-associated death domain-containing protein) in TNF-induced signalling complexes, preventing caspase 8 cleavage and programmed cell death. Moreover, ABIN-1 directly binds polyubiquitin chains and this ubiquitin sensing activity is required for ABIN-1's anti-apoptotic activity. These studies provide insights into how ubiquitination and ubiquitin sensing proteins regulate cellular and organismal survival.
