Ubiquitin in Human Diseases: Pathophysiology, Dysfunction and Treatment

Ubiquitin machinery is an essential regulatory system that maintains protein stability, degradation, and signalling by balancing ubiquitination and deubiquitination. In addition to its classical function in protein tagging for proteasomal degradation, ubiquitin has several essential cellular functions, including cell-cycle regulation, DNA repair, immunomodulation, intracellular signalling, and cellular stress responses. Abnormal regulation of this highly ordered system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, infectious diseases, metabolic dysfunction, and autoimmunity. Recent developments in structural biology, chemical biology, and proteomics have increased our understanding of ubiquitin signalling and identified new therapeutic targets by revealing context-specific interactions within nodes of the ubiquitinproteasome system. Future approaches to restore proteostasis involve selective inactivation of proteasomal subunits, E3 ligases, and deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), as well as novel modalities such as proteolysistargeting chimeras (PROTACs) and molecular glues that redirect ubiquitin-dependent degradation of diseaserelevant proteins. Although preclinical and early clinical studies have demonstrated target specificity, longterm safety remains a challenge for clinical translation. This review provides an overview of ubiquitin's pathophysiological functions in key human diseases, therapeutic interventions, and the potential of ubiquitin-based therapeutic strategies for precision medicine and targeted drug therapy.