A protein tagged with an ubiquitin group is marked for a specific fate inside the cell. What happens to that protein next?
AIt is moved to the nucleus as a transcription factor
BIt is exported out of the cell entirely
CIt is locked permanently into an active shape
DIt is moved to the proteasome to be degraded
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. It is moved to the proteasome to be degraded
1. Proteins can be chemically modified after translation with groups including methyl, phosphate, acetyl, and ubiquitin.
2. The addition of an ubiquitin group marks a protein for degradation.
3. These ubiquitin-tagged proteins are moved to the proteasome, an organelle that removes proteins, to be degraded.
4. Becoming a transcription factor, being exported from the cell, or being locked into an active state are not the fates described for ubiquitin-tagged proteins.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 16 "Gene Expression", section Chemical Modifications, Protein Activity, and Longevity_
Related questions
Regulatory proteins that bind to the untranslated regions of an RNA molecule can change hoSome new cancer drugs are designed around individual patients' gene expression patterns raThe protein c-Flip exists in two forms, a long form and a short form, and is involved in tIn cancer cells, silenced genes commonly show a specific combination of epigenetic changesThe gene myc encodes a transcription factor that becomes an oncogene when aberrantly activOne tumor suppressor gene is described as the most studied of its kind and is mutated in oCyclin B is a protein that normally serves as a cell-cycle checkpoint protein. In cancer cTranslation begins when a specific protein first binds the mRNA to start assembling the in