类泛素蛋白ISG 15及其在先天免疫中的作用

Ubiquitin-like Protein ISG15 and Its Role in Innate Immunity

病毒感染和干扰素刺激高等动物细胞,均可以强烈地诱导表达干扰素刺激基因15编码的蛋白ISG15,它是最早发现的类泛素修饰蛋白.虽然针对泛素及其修饰功能已进行了广泛而深入地研究,但对于ISG15共价修饰以及它的生物学功能了解甚少,有待进一步探讨.该领域的研究近几年有所突破,发现了有关ISG15修饰的酶系统,ISG15及其修饰系统在先天免疫以及干扰素信号调节中的重要作用.简要介绍ISG15的发现历史、生化性质、基因调控特点以及ISG15修饰系统中所涉及的酶,总结目前研究ISG15及其修饰与调节先天性免疫相关过程的一些最新进展.

Virus infection or interferon can stimulate robust expression of the protein ISG15 that is encoded by interferon stimulated gene 15, which was the first unbiquitin-like molecule identified two decades ago. While ubiquitin and its many important functions have been well established, the functions of ISG15 and its post-translational conjugation are still largely unknown. Recently, some specific enzymes have been identified to be involved in the ISG15 modification system, suggests that ISG15 and its modification system play important roles in the innate immune response and regulation of interferon signaling. The history of ISG15 discovery and its biochemical characterization were briefly introduced. Then such topics as the ISG15 gene expression and the ISG15 modification will be focued on, and finally summarize new findings which have implications for ISG15 and its modification system in immunology and interferon signal transduction were summarized.