Function and regulation of Cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases

Cullin - RING complexes comprise the largest known class of ubiquitin ligases. Owing to the great diversity of their substrate-receptor subunits, it is possible that there are hundreds of distinct cullin - RING ubiquitin ligases in eukaryotic cells, which establishes these enzymes as key mediators of post-translational protein regulation. In this review, we focus on the composition, regulation and function of cullin - RING ligases, and describe how these enzymes can be characterized by a set of general principles.