Control of gene expression by proteolysis.

The proteasome and the small protein ubiquitin are key elements in the intracellular pathway of general protein degradation. Recent evidence shows that the proteasome and other less well defined cytoplasmic proteases can participate in specific events which control inducible gene expression. A number of eukaryotic transcriptional regulators, including NF-kappa B/l kappa B, p53, c-Jun, Notch, sterol regulated element binding proteins and MAT2 alpha, have recently been shown to be regulated by proteolytic events, a regulation which results in the activation or inactivation of gene expression.