What history tells us XXXXI. Ubiquitin and proteolysis

International audienceThe importance of the discovery, at the beginning of the 1980s, of a complex mechanism pf protein degradation involving multiple additions of a small protein called ubiquitin, and the use of energy (ATP), is unanimously acknowledged. I describe the multiple obstacles that the quality of the experimental work permitted to overcome. The idea that protein degradation could be an important step of cellular control was not obvious for molecular biologists. The use of ATP for such a process seemed unnecessary. And the complexity of the system was unexpected. This discovery deeply transformed molecular biology