Lysine 63-linked polyubiquitination of CHK1 targets the kinase to chromatin for activation but paradoxically also blocks the access of its substrates. Dr. Sheau-Yann Shieh in the Institute of Biomedical Science, Academia Sinica and a post-doctoral fellow Dr. Yu-Che Cheng recently uncovered the key to unlocking CHK1. The deubiquitinating enzyme USP3 removes the ubiquitin chain and fulfills the last step of CHK1 activation. The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on May 7, 2018
( Institute of Biomedical Sciences)