Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 23, 2026

In Vitro SUMOylation Assay to Study SUMO E3 Ligase Activity
Published on: January 29, 2018
Uncovering global SUMOylation signaling networks in a site-specific manner
Ivo A Hendriks1, Rochelle C J D'Souza2, Bing Yang1
1Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Abstract:
SUMOylation is a reversible post-translational modification essential for genome stability. Using high-resolution MS, we have studied global SUMOylation in human cells in a site-specific manner, identifying a total of >4,300 SUMOylation sites in >1,600 proteins. To our knowledge, this is the first time that >1,000 SUMOylation sites have been identified under standard growth conditions. We quantitatively studied SUMOylation dynamics in response to SUMO protease inhibition, proteasome inhibition and heat shock. Many SUMOylated lysines have previously been reported to be ubiquitinated, acetylated or methylated, thus indicating cross-talk between SUMO and other post-translational modifications. We identified 70 phosphorylation and four acetylation events in proximity to SUMOylation sites, and we provide evidence for acetylation-dependent SUMOylation of endogenous histone H3. SUMOylation regulates target proteins involved in all nuclear processes including transcription, DNA repair, chromatin remodeling, precursor-mRNA splicing and ribosome assembly.
Related Concept Videos
Assembly of Signaling Complexes
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Cell Signaling Feedback Loops
Negative feedback loops
Most signaling systems have negative feedback loops that can perform different functions such as output limiter, and adaptation.
Output limiter
Upon receiving an input signal, the cellular response rapidly increases until a threshold is reached. Beyond this threshold, a negative feedback loop...
Amplifying Signals via Enzymatic Cascade
Nuclear Localization Signals and Import

