Emerging Role of the Ubiquitin-proteasome System as Drug Targets

The ubiquitin-proteosome system (UPS) regulates a wide range of cellular processes including protein degradation, DNA repair, transcription regulation, and cell signaling. Alterations and mutations in UPS components give rise to various human diseases, most prominently cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we review recent advances in UPS-based drug discovery highlighting the emerging relationships between the UPS and disease and discuss potential future therapeutic interventions. In particular, we focus on recent structural approaches in UPS and explain how the knowledge of protein structural details can guide the design of specifically targeted inhibitors.