Meta-Biol

• Pathways

UBP34 (also known as USP34) is a ubiquitin protease that co-precipitates in AXIN-containing complexes. In vitro studies show that the core domain of UBP34 is able to deubiquitinate AXIN purified from HEK293 transfected cells, and knockdown of UBP34 reduces AXIN1 protein levels in vivo. Treatment of UBP34-knockdown cells with the tankyrase inhibitor XAV939 reverses the degradation of AXIN, suggesting that the activity of UBP34 counteracts the tankyrase-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of AXIN. UBP34 plays a not-fully characterized role in the nuclear accumulation of AXIN, where AXIN is thought to positively regulate beta-catenin mediated transcription (Lui et al, 2011).