The regions of securin and cyclin B proteins recognized by the ubiquitination machinery are natively unfolded

The proteins securin and cyclin B are destroyed in mitosis by the ubiquitin/proteasome system. This destruction is important to mitotic progression. The N-terminal regions of these proteins contain the sequence features recognized by the ubiquitination system. We have demonstrated using circular dichroism and 1-D and 2-D nuclear magnetic resonance that these rather substantial regions are natively unfolded. Based on these findings, we propose a model that helps to explain previously enigmatic observations. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.