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Updated: May 24, 2026

In Vitro Ubiquitination and Deubiquitination Assays of Nucleosomal Histones
Published on: July 25, 2019
Tumor suppressor BLU enhances pro-apoptotic activity of sMEK1 through physical interaction
Seung Myung Dong1, Hyun-Jung Byun, Boh-Ram Kim
1Research Institute, National Cancer Center, 323, Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 410-769, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
BLU is a tumor suppressor that acts as a transcriptional regulator through the association with cellular components. However, the working mechanism of BLU in cellular functions was not understood. We found that BLU directly interacts with sMEK1, a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 4. Furthermore, we determined the binding domains that are required for interaction between BLU and sMEK1. The N-terminal of BLU was observed to interact with the C-terminal of sMEK1. Binding activity was confirmed by the BLU-dependent increase of sMEK1 expression, as well as by the induced apoptotic activity. Also, expression of BLU and sMEK1 was down-regulated in ovarian and cervical patients, and was hypermethylated. These findings indicate that BLU can mediate the pro-apoptotic activity through the induction of sMEK1.
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